Chennai, March 30 (BPNS)
Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu is known as the Manchester of the South with most of the garment exports is taking place from this place. The industry already reeling under a steep increase in prices of raw materials is now affected by the Ukraine- Russia war.
Tiruppur which is one of the biggest textile industries in the country has a turnover of Rs 3000 crore per month but in the last month, exporters said that the business has come down anywhere between 20 to 30 percent.
It is to be noted that around 65 percent of the export business from Tiruppur is with the European Union and the war between Ukraine and Russia has affected the exporters significantly.
Raja M. Shanmugham, President of Tiruppur Exporters Association while speaking to BPNS said, “ The price of raw materials has seen a steep increase and for example, cotton candy price has increased from Rs 15,000 a month to Rs 80,000 a month and this has affected our production.”
He said that most of the European brands are importing from Tiruppur and have business in Russia and Ukraine and added that the war has a cascading effect on the whole Europe leading to the decline in imports in European countries.
The TEA president said, “ Europe and UK are mired in crisis following the war and naturally they will reduce the imports of garments and we are feeling the pinch. Most of the European brands have reduced the imports between 20 to 30 percent.”
He said that the increase in Cotton candy prices has affected the production of yarn and fabrics and is affecting the growth of cotton textile value chain.
T. Rajkumar, Chairman, Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) while speaking to media persons said,” Traders are hoarding cotton and manipulating price on a daily basis taking advantage of future tradings in MCX and NCDEX.”
He said that 11 percent import duty has emboldened traders to hoard textiles in the name of farmers and called upon the Union government to withdraw the import duty which would automatically lead to a reduction in prices.
The Textile Industry leaders also called upon the government to make declaration of cotton stock mandatory for traders to prevent hoarding.
