Pakistan’s cotton and ginning sector faces complete operational paralysis as factory owners threaten nationwide shutdowns and strikes after the Federal Board of Revenue carried out unannounced raids and record seizures in Sindh.
The tax enforcement actions, conducted without prior notice in key cotton-producing hubs including Sanghar, Tando Adam and Shahdadpur, have triggered panic across the industry. Several ginning factories have abruptly halted production in the middle of an already difficult season, Dawn reported on Thursday.
Industry warns of total shutdown
Addressing a press conference at PCGA House in Multan, Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association chairman Sohail Mehmood Harral, flanked by the association’s central leadership, warned that the business community would have no choice but to shut down all operating facilities if the campaign under the Regional Tax Office Hyderabad’s jurisdiction is not halted immediately.
PCGA officials said tax authorities forcibly broke factory locks and confiscated financial records, bypassing legal notice procedures. Cotton Ginners Forum chairman Ihsanul Haq confirmed that the heavy-handed tactics have sent shockwaves through ginning and oil mill operations across the country, threatening to derail the ongoing harvest season.
A sector already on its knees
The crackdown has landed on an industry already crippled by high electricity tariffs, rising production costs and a crushing sales tax burden of 18 to 22 per cent. Industrialists pointed out that more than 100 ginning factories have become non-functional in 2025-26 alone.
The cumulative toll is stark: over 500 ginning units, nearly 700 oil mills, 175 textile mills and hundreds of power looms have shut down across Pakistan. The closures have wiped out jobs in cotton-growing districts of Punjab and Sindh, where ginning provides seasonal employment to thousands of workers.
The industry’s distress fits a wider pattern. Textile exporters have already warned of a steep decline in exports in the October-December quarter, citing weak Western demand and freight costs running up to two and a half times normal levels. Punjab has answered with a Rs1.995 trillion industrial and export plan, though ginners say what the sector needs most urgently is relief from coercive tax enforcement.
Dialogue, not raids, say ginners
Harral praised the regional tax offices in Multan and Bahawalpur for choosing dialogue over coercive action, and urged the government to replace raids with standard legal notices. That, he said, would give mill owners a fair chance to comply without disrupting industrial activity.
The demand puts the FBR in a difficult spot. The board is under pressure to widen the tax net and meet revenue targets, but the ginners argue that surprise raids and seizures destroy trust and push struggling units toward permanent closure.
How the standoff resolves will matter well beyond the ginning sheds. Cotton feeds Pakistan’s textile chain, the country’s largest export earner, and a prolonged shutdown during harvest season would ripple through spinning, weaving and garment units in the months ahead.
Why are cotton ginners protesting?
They say the FBR conducted unannounced raids and record seizures in Sindh’s cotton belt, broke factory locks and seized records without legal notices.
How many ginning factories have closed?
More than 100 have become non-functional in 2025-26 alone, taking the cumulative total past 500 ginning units, alongside nearly 700 oil mills and 175 textile mills.
What do the ginners want?
They want the government to stop the raids and use standard legal notices instead, giving mill owners a fair opportunity to comply.
Which areas were targeted in the raids?
The actions took place in Sanghar, Tando Adam and Shahdadpur, under the Regional Tax Office Hyderabad’s jurisdiction.
