Textile Units Halt Work, Seek Ban on Yarn Exports .

COIMBATORE: Textile production on Friday came to a halt in several parts of this region, covering Coimbatore, Erode, Tirupur, Namakkal and Salem districts, as garment and weaving units went on a one-day strike, seeking ban on cotton yarn exports.

In Tirupur, a large number of entrepreneurs and textile workers observed a fast too.

According to president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations A. Sakthivel, production loss in the country owing to the shutdown was estimated at Rs.175 crore, with the loss in Tirupur cluster alone amounting to Rs.45 crore.

Unless the Central Government came out with measures to stop yarn exports, yarn prices would not come down in the domestic market. Textile associations would intensify their agitation if the yarn prices did not come down even after Friday's strike, he warned.

Police sources said that around 80 per cent of the nearly 6,000 textile units in Tirupur stopped production on Friday.

Tirupur Member of Parliament C. Sivasami said the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MPs had written to Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, seeking a discussion on the floor of the House on the steps that should be taken for controlling yarn prices.

Hundreds of powerloom and garment units and a large number of wholesale and retail textile shops in Erode remained closed. Manufacturing activity in the weaving and garment units in Erode and Namakkal districts came to a standstill.

M.S. Mathivanan, president of the Confederation of Indian Powerloom Industries, said prices of cotton yarn had doubled in the last few months, hitting the yarn-using industry hard.

In Salem and Namakkal districts, nearly 60 per cent of powerlooms in the weaving clusters did not function. About 75,000 units in Komarapalayam, Pallipalayam and Tiruchengode in Namakkal district joined the strike.

A majority of the powerloom units at Ilampillai, Edapadi, Jalakandapuram and Salem also joined the strike. Chairman of the Southern India Mills' Association J. Thulasidharan contended that yarn prices shot up during the last few months because of the hike in cotton prices. Even now, Indian cotton yarn costs less than Chinese or Bangladesh yarn.

A State Government official says that the State has been vigorously pursuing with the Centre the issue of safeguarding interests of the local textile industry. It is because of its efforts that the cotton exports have been pegged at 55 lakh bales this year compared to 83 lakh bales last year. Also, no exports were allowed between May and October this year.

Source : hindu.com