PCGA demands govt launch drive to save cotton economy

Business Recorder reported that the Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA) has asked the government to start a nationwide campaign called “Grow Cotton, Save the Economy” and to fold its proposals into national policy. The demands were voiced at the association's general body meeting in Multan. Among them were the shutdown of sugar mills in cotton-growing areas and the scrapping of every levy on cotton and its derivatives.

The association also wants sales tax removed from cottonseed cake and cottonseed, the fixed tax on power bills dropped, and ginning recognised as an industry so it can buy power and gas at industrial rates. It further seeks full enforcement of the Cotton Control Act. Sohail Mahmood Harl was chosen as the new chairman without a contest, with Kewal Mal Devnani named senior vice chairman and Mazhar Shoaib Khan Natkani vice chairman.

In his remarks, the new chairman said he would keep campaigning to get duties on the trade in cotton lifted. S M Tanveer, a former provincial minister, said GDP had dropped to USD 450 billion and exports were still under USD 30 billion. FPCCI President Atif Ikram Sheikh, meanwhile, put power at 12 cents a unit in Pakistan, against six cents across neighbouring nations.