Extended vacation hits textile, jari industries

Business in Surat, the hub of the textile and diamond industries, seems to have come to a grinding halt. The diamond industry, powerloom industry, textile industry and the jari industry, are closed, on account of Diwali.

However, this is an annual feature, as most workers in the diamond industry are migrant labourers and owners of textile and powerloom units observe holidays for a fortnight during the festive season.

All jari manufacturing units in Surat, are closed since November 10 and will start functioning only after November 26.

Shantilal Jariwala, a leading jari businessman, told Business Standard, "All the jari units are closed now. Normally, the vacation is for a week or 10 days, but this year, the units will remain closed for over two weeks, mainly on account of recession. There is no demand for jari, and hence even if we keep the units functional, it would only mean mounting losses."

Jariwala expressed optimism that the prolonged vacation would help the jari industry. "The jari industry is facing problems due to increase in raw material prices. The vacation will result in production cut, which is believed to lead to higher demand."

The diamond traders have also shut shops. "The diamond industry of Surat observes a vacation for 25 to 30 days during Diwali. This has been the practice since the last 40 years. All the diamond cutting and polishing units in the city are closed at present, and will open only around December 1," leading diamond trader Chandrakant Sanghvi, said.

"The pre-Diwali period was good for the diamond industry. The jewellery industry also made good progress. In my opinion, the coming months will be extremely bright for the diamond industry," Sanghvi added.

All the weaving units of Surat are also closed, but these are expected to start manufacturing from Monday onwards.

"All the weaving units are closed. Some of these would resume functioning in a day or two, but most of the units will start production only after November 22. Business was a bit slack for the powerloom industry before Diwali, but we believe it should pick up in the coming weeks," Shankar Patel, a leading weaver said.

Like each year, the textile markets are also observing a Diwali vacation. "There are over 40,000 textile shops in the city, all of which, were closed since Diwali. Though, many of shops are open today, these would start closing by afternoon or evening. The textile markets would start functioning regularly from next week," Mahendra Saluja, president, Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association, said.

"The previous year was not very good for the textile industry, which was mainly on account of numerous instances of vanishing firms. We are hoping that the following year will be good, and through collective efforts, we will be able to curb such instances," Saluja added.

All the dyeing and printing mills and the transport companies, which are directly connected to the textile industry, are also closed, and it would be at-least one week, before the situation starts returning to normal, in Surat.