GUJRAT, March 13: Manufac-turers of electric fans have again jacked up the rates of all types of fans owing to consistent hike in raw material prices, particularly metal goods and copper wire.

The decision to enhance the prices was taken at a hurriedly-called meeting of the Pakistan Electric Fans Manufacturers Association (PEFMA) held under the chairmanship of its president Haji Muhammad Ilyas.

The meeting also decided to do away with the lifetime guarantee concept for the fans on the demand of its majority members.

Following a marathon deliberations, the participants decided to increase the rates by 10 per cent. The manufacturers had already jacked up 10 per cent price in January.

Ali Usman, a local fan manufacturer, said that manufacturers could not afford to continue the policy of lifetime guarantee in the wake of continuous hike in input prices.

Another manufacturer said that it had become a difficult task to fulfill the export orders.

PEFMA chairman Haji Muhammad Ilyas said electrical steel sheet had registered an almost 100 per cent surge in its prices in the global market. He said last year the steel sheet was available at 660 dollars per ton while it was to be had at 1,200 dollars.

Similarly, the rate of enameled copper wire had been raised by 50 per cent as compared to the last season. While the price of blade and other metal material had also been enhanced manifold, prompting manufacturers to raise the prices of fans.

He said the fan industry was paying 20 per cent sales tax on the purchase of electric sheet even from the domestic market.

He demanded that the government should reduce the sales tax on the raw material from 20 per cent to 15 per cent to ride the industry out of crisis.