Rain losses put at over Rs 1000 cr

South Gujarat Industry bears brunt of rains; Textile units come to a standstill

The torrential rainfall that has lashed all parts of south Gujarat over the last four days has caused losses worth hundreds of crore of rupees to the trade and industry here.

With the rail and road traffic coming to a grinding halt, industries have begun to assess the losses occurred because of the downpour. According to rough estimates, the losses could touch over Rs 1,000 crore.

Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Dinesh Mandalaywala said, "The rains have caused large-scale devastation. Flood waters entered industrial and commercial premises such as shopping complexes, showrooms and textile markets. Machinery and goods worth crores have been damaged."

"Production in textile units has come to a halt. All shops are lying closed because many textile markets are submerged under water. Surat's textile industry alone has suffered losses of Rs 75 crore per day. It is difficult to assess the exact damage caused by the rains, but we believe it could be in the region of Rs 150-200 crore," Mandalaywala said.

Vapi Industrial Association (VIA) president Suman Bhavsar said, "The rains have not led to any direct material losses in any industry in Vapi GIDC. But the industries here have been affected because of low workers turnout. We have come to know that production has already started in some of the industrial units in Vapi and we believe things will return to normal in the next couple of days."

Daman Industrial Association president Ketan Patel said, "Industries in Daman have been badly affected because of the flood. The waters have entered many industrial units and caused large-scale damage. Machinery and goods worth Rs 40-50 crore have been damaged at Kabra Industries and Magni Pharma. There are dozens of other such firms which have been affected."

"The present damage in Daman because of the floods would easily touch the Rs 100 crore mark. The figure will increase as it would take at least a week to restart production," Patel said.

Former VIA president Kalpesh Shah said, "Flood waters have not entered any industrial units in Vapi GIDC. However, companies here will suffer losses as production in majority of the units has been halted. Rail and road services have also been paralysed. This has hit transportation of goods."

Federation of Gujarat Weavers Associations president Manu Patel said, "I am not in a position to give any exact figures of the damage caused by the heavy rainfall, but I believe it should be dozens of crores of rupees. Many powerloom units have been submerged by the rain waters, but we will be able to assess the actual damage only when the waters recede."

Industry sources, however, put the losses suffered by Surat industries alone to the tune of Rs 500 crore.

"The textile industry alone will suffer losses of Rs 80-100 crore each day, because trading has been badly affected. Transportation of goods, either by rail or road, has been disrupted. Many industries have been flooded by rain water, bringing production to a halt. Keeping in mind the forecast of heavy rainfall, it would be some more days before the situation returns to normal. The losses suffered by industries in Surat could easily cross the Rs 500 crore mark," said an industry source.