Assembly elections are grist for Tirupur mills

With the Assembly election round the corner, Tirupur-based garment makers have a reason to smile. Their hands are now full with bulk orders from political parties for producing T-shirts and vests with the party symbols printed on them.

Huge orders are pouring in from various political parties with more than 15,000 pieces a day. "Though we could get bulk orders now, it is confined to the season- till the election fever is over," one of the industrialists told Business Standard.

"Even the margin would be very nominal as the political parties would opt for cheaper quality fabrics since the utility of the garments would be for a limited period," he added.

For the cadres of political parties, by sporting T-shirts and vests carrying their party symbols or slogans and the picture of their party leaders, they can attract the attention of the masses, particularly while participating in rallies or public meetings.

However, most of the manufacturers in the region could not take up such bulk orders for execution owing to labour shortage and export commitments, according to a source in the Tirupur Exporters Association (TEA).

"We face a labour shortage of 20-30 per cent. As the exports go up, the problem too aggravates. Going by the current level of capacity expansion happening in the garment production units in Tirupur, the annual demand for skilled workers is estimated to be between 25,000 and 30,000," he said.

However, given the low productivity of the existing labour and the very high turnout ratio among the skilled workers, the garment units in Tirupur are in expansion mode and export commitments were compelling them to look for training of workers rather seriously, the source added.