PESHAWAR: As partial lockdown continuous to prevail in the provincial capital at the cost of suspended trade and commercial activities, small factory owners and manufacturers have demanded interest-free loans on easy terms, and deferment of electricity and gas bills for next three months.
They also asked the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to devise a procedure for the registration of factory workers and daily wage labourers with the provincial labour department.
The demands came through a unanimous resolution during a meeting of All Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Small Industrial Estate Associations chaired by Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) President Engr Maqsood Anwar Pervaiz at the chamber house on Wednesday.
The meeting participants, in their resolution, demanded the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) to avoid meter disconnections due to delay in timely payment of bills, besides waiving additional surcharges from industrial and commercial consumers.
The government was also sought ban on import of marble and granite to give boost to indigenous industries.
Speaking on the occasion, Pervaiz said small and medium enterprises and businesses were adversely affected due to spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic in KP.
He urged the federal and provincial governments to announce comprehensive relief package for small industries of the province.
The SCCI chief urged to defer electricity and gas bills of small and medium scale industries for the months of March, April and May besides rescheduling loans of small factories.
He further asked to exempt small manufacturing units from all federal and provincial taxes for at least one year.
Pervaiz called to bring down the markup rate to the single digit in upcoming fiscal budget for 2020-21 in the larger interests of trade, industry and economy.
