Several powerloom weavers in Surat have now conveyed that they will shut their units again starting from June 15, reported TOI.
Praveen Dhameliya who is a powerloom weaver said that he will shut the unit for an indefinite period. In his unit, there are about 350 powerloom machines out of which only 40 are operational. And now, there are only seven workers who are demanding hike in their wages. Moreover, he said, that the cost of production has increased by Rs 1 per metre of fabric due to increase in workers' wages, raw material cost and fixed electricity charges. Another major concern during these tough times for him is that he is not finding any customers.
Well, he is not the only one who will shut the unit for an indefinite period. As reported by TOI, 600 powerloom units at Anjani industrial estate, Diamondnagar, Pipodara industrial estate have decided to shut down their units for an indefinite period after it has resumed their operations after the government had relaxed the restrictions on May 20.
There is no doubt that these times are tough for all businesses considering the shortage of workers and low demand for the products apart from other issues. Likewise, the powerloom weaves have said that the severe shortage of workers, increased production cost and low demand for their product in the domestic and international market has forced them to take this step.
Another weaver, Shailesh Mangukiya told TOI that his unit was shut for two months during the lockdown and still had to pay an electricity bill worth Rs 4 lakh. He said that he is running 20 machines of 150 and manufactured 1,000 metres of fabric in last 10 days. He, however, said that the traders rufused to purchase the fabric.
While the production cost and other expenditure is high, powerloom weavers believe that shutting the units for an indefinite period would rather be a better option than spending an exorbitant amount during these times.
Vijay Mangukiya who is the president of Anjani Industrial Estate said that due to the aforementioned reasons, they have decided to shut the units from June 15 and wait for the migrant workers to return and business to normalise.
As reported by PTI, with 23 workers employed in some diamond units in Surat city of Gujarat testing coronavirus positive, the civic authorities have ordered partial closure of around eight such firms and asked their other staff members to undergo a 14-day quarantine.
With the detection of several positive cases, certain departments of diamond units, including Shivam Jewellers, SRK Empire, Dharmnandan Diamonds, Rinkle Impex, C Dinesh and Co, JB and Brothers, and Royal Diamonds, have been shut, the civic body said in a statement.
