The future of the industry has become completely uncertain with downslide of overall production caused by frequent power outage in the factories.

Despite the challenges of MFA phase-out, the acute power shortage across the country badly impedes the growth of the entire garment industry, which contributes highest foreign exchange to the national economy.

Industry people apprehended the woven garment sector will again fail to meet its export target of fiscal year 2005-06 if the government does not take immediate action to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the industrial units.

Sources, however, said there is no possibility of improving the power situation immediately as the country has been facing a gas shortage of 100 million cft daily against a demand for 1,600 million cft.

Energy Ministry Adviser Mahmudur Rahman at a press briefing on Thursday indicated that the gas shortage situation would not improve until the exploration of next relief well and it might linger until 2007. So, the existing around 400-MW power shortage is likely to continue hurting the productivity of the woven industry.

Sources in the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) said that production in the woven factories having standby generators went down by 10-15 percent while the factories without standby generators lost about 40 percent productivity due to continuous load-shedding for the last one month.