The textile industry in Erode district has been badly affected by the power crisis, currently plaguing the state.
A Muthusamy, a textile producer here, said, earlier the district alone produced textiles worth Rs four crore daily and manufacturers were spending only five per cent of their income for electricity.
Now due to the "power cut" they were incurring a loss of additional three per cent of their income to generate sufficient power from alternate sources, mainly generators, he said.
Muthusamy said "already the textile industry is facing problems due to the paucity of man power and now five hour shut down of power every day has affected them further".
Textile producers said the production process could not be stopped in the middle and they were using generators to operate the machines during the powercut.
They were buying fuel from the 'black market' and a minimum Rs 400 is spent daily for operating generators, which is almost four times higher than the electricity tariff.
The buyers were reluctant to buy the product at high rates and as a result production had been reduced, they said.
Muthusamy said though the "Ramzan orders" were despatched, they would not be able to meet the customers' orders for the coming Dasara and Deepavali season, especially from other states like Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar and Maharashtra.
"Each producer is supplying only 40 to 45 per cent of the total orders," he said.
They said they would close down the units if the power cut continues.
