Ghee and cooking oil industry in Punjab has been in grip of energy crisis, as the sector is without gas for the last two months while the sector has to bear 8-10 hours power breakdowns.

Pakistan Vanaspati Manufacturers Association (PVMA) Chairman Khawaja Arif Qasim said that due to unavailability of gas they are operating boilers with furnace oil, which is so substandard and inferior quality that boilers are not working properly, creating troubles for manufacture standardised ghee and cooking oil.

He said a seven-member delegation of the PVMA will meet the SNGPL MD Arif Hameed to acquaint him of miserable conditions of cooking oil units due to lack of gas supply.

The SNGPL is not fulfilling its own commitment of 25 per cent gas provision in winter, he claimed. He said the government is providing gas supply to those manufacturers who are influential and have close relations with higher authorities.

The PVMA chairman said the government should ensure uninterrupted power supply to the industry in Punjab as we have become uncompetitive even within the country.He urged the federal government to help run industry in Punjab as the economy of province is suffering badly because of power and gas shortages.

Arif Qasim said that electricity is the major issue for trade and industry therefore government should expedite work on cheaper power projects. He said that industrial closures and defaults have become order of the day because of electricity shortage.He said that government should implement some mechanism to expedite consultation with the real stakeholders to make the policies result oriented.

Vanaspati Manufacturers Association (PVMA) Chairman urged government functionaries to take action against unregistered companies marketing substandard vegetable ghee/ cooking oil.

He said the manufacturing sector consumes edible oil extracted from local and imported oil seeds to the tune of $1.3 billion. “The sector, directly and indirectly, contributes over Rs120 billion to the national exchequer in the shape of duty/taxes and other levies”, he added.

He said that unscrupulous elements are selling unregistered brands in the market for their profits thus bringing bad name to vanaspati industry which is bound to provide vegetable oil to masses at affordable prices.

PVMA chief observed that the discriminatory attitude of the government was not only denting its goodwill and reputation but had also put a question mark on its ability to manage and govern things. He said that the units in Sindh were getting an almost uninterrupted supply except a two-to-three hour load shedding.

What about the thousands of daily wagers who have only one source of income? And above all, he added, how the government would convince both local and foreign investors for investment when it is unable to manage supply of gas to existing industrial units.

“Instead of coming up with some sort of relief package, the industry is being pushed to the wall. The gas suspension for two months is tantamount to throttling the industry to death.”

The shortage of gas is not the only issue, its improper distribution also remains a cause of worry. The government should divert all new-found gas to the network of Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited network.Kh Arif said that it seemed that some elements in the gas department were hatching conspiracies against the government to defame it.