KARACHI, Nov 15: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has asked the government to allow import of cotton from India through land route.

FPCCI President Tanvir Ahmed Sheikh in a recent meeting with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had raised the issue and suggested that since there was a big gap between demand and supply therefore, the government should allow the industry to import all category of cotton from India through land route.

He explained that though import of cotton from India was allowed but it had been restricted to long staple quality and other varieties of short staple etc., had to be imported through sea route.

As a result of this condition, the FPCCI chief informed the prime minister that textile industry had to bear extra cost of three cents per lb which had increased their production cost and made the industry uncompetitive on the world markets.

The FPCCI president also asked the prime minister to promote cultivation of BT cotton to increase production to narrow the demand and supply gap.