FAISALABAD, Dec 5: The Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) on Tuesday rejected the proposed 13 per cent cut in gas rates and said it was not an appropriate solution to the crisis.

PTEA chairman Mian Zahid Aslam said the government was providing gas to fertiliser industry at Rs92 per MMBTU (Million British Thermal Unit) while the textile sector was paying Rs270 per MMBTU.

“The difference between the two sectors is of Rs178 per MMBTU, which is far higher than the 13 per cent reduction proposed by Ogra.”

The proposed cut would not support Pakistan’s textile exports to compete with Bangladesh, China and India, he said.

Mian Zahid Aslam said the monthly bill of a textile mills in Bangladesh was Rs3.7 million and it was Rs10 million in Pakistan.

He stressed that zero-rating of textile sector would pave the way for stabilising the textile industry and exports.

The country’s textile sector was highly overburdened with taxes of different kinds, besides various surcharges, he said and added the heavy taxation had rendered textile exports incompetitive in international market. Consequently, Pakistani exports were declining for the last 15 months, he said.