FAISALABAD, July 7: At least 14 organisations, representing textile and other sectors, staged a protest rally on Monday to press the government for withdrawal of raise in electricity and gas tariffs.

Carrying banners and wearing black armbands, industrialists chanted slogans against the surge in the power and gas tariff and demanded withdrawal of withholding tax and sought extension in research and development facility to exporters.

The rally was led by Pakistan Sizing Industries Association chairman Mirza Shafiq Ahmed, former president of the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industries Sheikh Aftab Ahmed and Nazim Shehzad. It started from the Faisalabad Chamber of commerce and Industry and terminated at the Kashmir Bridge.

Speaking at a meeting at the FCCI, speakers, including Waheed Ramay, Mirza Shaifq, Javeed Iqbal and others, said the recent surge in the utility tariffs had pushed the industry on the verge of collapse.

They said that the soaring cost of production had rendered their exports uncompetitive in the international market and it was also hampering industrial growth.

They said industrialists just wanted to register their protest and were not supporting any political party.

They warned that closure of Faisalabad’s textile industry might leave nearly one million labourers jobless.

The industry had been fetching $4 billion in foreign exchange, they said.

They said that a 15-member delegation, comprising representatives of different business organisations, would be leaving for Islamabad for a dialogue with trade minister, Federal Board of Revenue chairman and other officials concerned, and industrialists would withdraw their protest call if talks yielded results. Otherwise, they said, industrialists would stick to their stance.

The Islamabad meeting had been arranged by the senior minister for solution of problems being faced by Faisalabad industry.

The trade organisations have given July 11 deadline for the acceptance of their demands, threatening closure of their businesses, if government refused to withdraw hike in gas and electricity tariffs.

Earlier, these bodies planned their sit-ins at the offices of city district nazim and district coordination officer. However, after holding a dialogue with Punjab senior minister Raja Riaz Ahmed, they changed their plan.