Lahore [Pakistan], May 21 (ANI): A severe crisis has gripped the flour milling industry in Pakistan’s Rawalpindi-Islamabad region, where nearly 40 per cent of flour mills have reportedly ceased operations due to mounting financial losses and what industry leaders describe as flawed government policies. Flour millers have warned that more units could soon close unless the Punjab government urgently reforms its wheat and flour distribution system, as reported by Dawn.
According to Dawn, in a strongly critical appeal addressed to Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, former vice chairman of the Pakistan Flour Mills Association, Punjab, Chaudhry Afzal Mahmood Advocate, accused authorities of pushing the sector towards collapse through inconsistent regulations and administrative interference.
The statement was widely circulated among flour millers through WhatsApp groups. The appeal claimed that millers in Rawalpindi and Islamabad are facing severe disadvantages compared to southern Punjab, where wheat-producing districts allegedly receive preferential treatment.
Mill owners in the twin cities are forced to buy wheat from private suppliers at significantly higher transportation costs, adding nearly Rs200 to Rs 250 per maund. Industry representatives alleged that official pricing policies are making it impossible for mills to survive.
They claimed that while wheat costs had reached around Rs4,100 per maund, authorities were forcing flour to be sold at nearly Rs4,000 per maund, causing heavy operational losses after accounting for electricity charges, salaries, and other expenses. Millers accused the food department of imposing arbitrary controls and issuing inconsistent policy directives on a daily basis.
The appeal also highlighted that wheat permits issued to mills were insufficient for sustainable operations, with some mills receiving only 40 tonnes every four days. Several mill owners said billions of rupees invested in the industry had already been wiped out, leading to closures and large-scale unemployment among workers linked to the sector, as highlighted by Dawn.
Millers urged the Punjab government to introduce a uniform flour pricing mechanism, ensure equal wheat distribution across Punjab, and replace administrative controls with a market-based system to stabilise the struggling industry, as reported by Dawn. (ANI)