Textile industry seeks $50bn export by 2029

The industry has an installed export capacity of approximately $25 billion per year

By Khalid Mustafa
January 27, 2024
In this picture taken on July 20, 2023, a worker operates a machine preparing fabric at the Kohinoor Textile Mills in Lahore. — AFP
In this picture taken on July 20, 2023, a worker operates a machine preparing fabric at the Kohinoor Textile Mills in Lahore. — AFP

ISLAMABAD: The country’s textile industry has prepared a policy roadmap for the future government with a target to jack up textile exports up to $50 billion till 2029.

The roadmap asks the future regime to ensure B2B power contracts with a wheeling charge of 1-1.5 cents per unit by operationalizing the Competitive Trading Bilateral Contracts Market (CTBCM) and increasing the cap on solar net-metering for industrial consumers from 1MW up to 5MW.

The industry has an installed export capacity of approximately $25 billion per year that could rise to around $50 billion per year over the course of five years, and only around $5 billion worth of investment conditional on a distortion-free business environment that allows firms to be competitive in international markets.

The 64-page policy also underscores the upcoming regime to establish a separate power tariff category for export-oriented firms excluding cross-subsidies and stranded costs that could not be exported apart from maintaining RLNG/gas supply for captive power plants given the unreliability of the power sector and ensuring medium-term visibility pricing and availability.