Punjab govt suspends notices

LAHORE: The Punjab government has suspended audit notices issued by the Social Security Department due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, a statement said on Monday.

Punjab Minister for Industries Aslam Iqbal announced the decision in a meeting with the delegation of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) headed by its Central Chairman Adil Bashir and APTMA Northern Zone Chairman Abdul Rahim Nasir, it added.

The minister assured the delegation of all-out support by the provincial government in smooth

functioning of all industrial units for enhancing exports.

He requested APTMA member mills to ensure compliance of all the prescribed SOPs to effectively fight against the second wave of Covid-19.

Responding to the demand of APTMA for waiver of provincial excise duty on electricity bills to keep the exports free from all domestic duties and taxes, he assured APTMA of the fullest cooperation

and asked them to send a working paper to him on this issue for consideration by the provincial government.

Regarding collection of water charges even on the standby turbine, the minister issued directives that water charges would only be collected in respect of the turbine actually used for water pumping and the standby turbine would not be charged.

The APTMA chairman thanked the minister, in particular, and the provincial and federal governments, in general, for their bold initiatives in resolving the issues being faced by the industrialists and expressed the hope that with the continued support of the government, the whole textile sector would make all-out efforts to promote further investment in textiles sector.