KARACHI, Jan 22: Farmers will start growing Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cotton with official permission from next kharif, Federal Textile Minister Rana Farooq Mohammad Khan informed a gathering of local businessmen on Thursday at Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The textile minister in his first visit to the KCCI told businessmen about his efforts within the government to ensure payment of Rs10 billion arrears of the research and development subsidy to textile exporters.

He did not make any specific reference but implied that this amount pertained to subsidy on textile exports made during

June 25 to June 30 last year for which the SBP had suspended disbursement.“I am also trying to support textile exporters in any other possible way if not by research and development subsidy,” he stated while pointing out that he knows nothing about the textile industry since he was a grower and therefore knows how vital is cotton and textile are for the country’s economy.

The minister declares that textile is mainstay of the economy and though he is not involved in this business but wants revive the lost glory of this sector. He wondered as to why his predecessor in the textile ministry who was a leading textile businessman failed to deliver any good to his colleagues.

He promised to raise issues of gas and electricity supply and tariff within the government to find out some solution.

But Rana Farooq’s speech was more of a political rhetoric and his personal explanation to contest as an independent candidate in February 2008 elections that returned him on provincial and national assemblies’ seat and finally won him a slot in federal cabinet for a job which by his own admission “I know nothing.”

The minister failed to pick up a finer point of Pakistan’s textile export structure, when Zubair Motiwala, a former KCCI president, informed him that out of about $10 billion worth of total export hardly $200 million to $500 million textile export was of designers’ standards that fetch premium value.

The $10 billion textile exports from Pakistan also include $2.5 billion worth of cotton, yarn and fabric sold out to our competitors in the world from which they earn $25 billion. “This is our money which we are passing on to our competitors by selling input of their value added sectors at throwaway prices,” Zubair complained.

“How can you expect us to compete when our competing textile industry in Bangladesh gets gas and electricity at virtually half of the price on which we are getting,” he remarked, while informing that quite a good number of Pakistani textile business people are now in Dhaka where they are earning two times and even three times more what they earn in Pakistan.

KCCI President Anjum Nisar reminded the minister of the tremendous burden of banks’ interests on viability of textile industry and demanded a moratorium. The minister remained non-committal on this issue.