This story is from June 14, 2020

Labour crunch, high costs hit Surat powerloom units

Praveen Dhameliya, a powerloom weaver at Diamondnagar industrial estate in Laskana, some 20km from the city, is left with no option but to shut the unit for an indefinite period.
Labour crunch, high costs hit Surat powerloom units
SURAT: Praveen Dhameliya, a powerloom weaver at Diamondnagar industrial estate in Laskana, some 20km from the city, is left with no option but to shut the unit for an indefinite period. Out of his 350 powerloom machines, only 40 are operational with less than seven workers who want hike in their wages.
Dhameliya's cost of production has increased by Rs 1 per metre of fabrics due to the increase in the fixed electricity charges, raw material cost and workers' wages.
On the other hand, he is not finding buyers for his grey fabric.
Dhameliya is not an isolated case. Over 600 powerloom units at Anjani industrial estate in Amroli, Diamondnagar in Laskana and Pipodara industrial estates, which had resumed operation post government relaxations from May 20, have unanimously decided to shut down units for indefinite period starting June 15. These three industrial estates house 10,000 units.
The reasons cited by the powerlooom weavers are severe shortage of workers, rising production cost and the textile traders not buying grey or unfinished fabrics due to the weak demand in the domestic and international market.
Shailesh Mangukiya, another powerloom weaver, old TOI, "My unit was shut for two months during lockdown and I was issued average electricity bill of Rs 4 lakh. I am running only 20 machines out of the 150 in the unit and was able to manufacture 1,000 metres of fabric in the last 10 days. When I contacted the traders in the market, they refused to purchase ."
"I am running 30 machines for six hours and the workers are demanding Rs 500 per day for wages. There is no demand for the fabric in the market and the production cost is very high. It is better to shut the uni," says Himmat Patel, a powerloom weaver in Pipodara industrial estate.
Vijay Mangukiya, president of Anjani industrial estate said, "We have unanimously decided to shut the units for indefinite period from June 15 and wait for the migrant workers to return to Surat and the business to normalise ."
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