(Ecofin Agency) - Egyptians have said that production in the industry will continue to suffer, unless the government starts diverting some of the gas supplied to electricity plants powering homes to factories.

Companies however lament on the kind of power cuts that fuelled unrest in the past and government energy policies are dealing a blow to industries vital for economic growth.

"Factories have been beset by power outages and (economic) activity has suffered," Research group Capital Economics said in a note to Reuters. Capital went further by saying that Egypt's economy has slowed sharply in 2015, with growth falling from 4.3 % at the end of last year, to as little as 2 % in recent months.

Energy has become a politically tensed issue in Egypt. Last summer Egypt witnessed widespread shortages.

"There were no power cuts caused by shortages this summer. Any cuts this summer were caused by technical failures and were fixed immediately," an electricity ministry spokeswoman said.

"It's an understandable policy from a political standpoint," said Mohsin Khan, an economist at the Atlantic Council think-tank. "But the power cuts to factories have led to a serious economic problem... By not providing gas for factories, you are cutting the potential growth rate of the economy, not just today but also tomorrow."

Egypt's state gas board, EGAS, sees the gas shortages as a compulsory ill that the industry has to bear for now. "Egypt's industrial sector understands that we must provide gas supplies for power plants," a senior EGAS official said.

According to the government, its efforts to boost imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and steps towards allowing coal usage will boost energy supplies, but analysts believe that with domestic power consumption growing, the fight over energy will continue for the time being, and not in favor of the industries.