Surat textile processors plan forced mini vacation

Faced with extreme recession and rising costs, the textile processing houses in Surat are contemplating a mini vacation in the next few days.

"The processing units are passing through a very critical phase as there has been a very little supply of grey cloth for processing. On account of this, most of the processing units are operating at around 50 per cent capacity for sometime now," Ramesh Gajjar, president, South Gujarat Processors Association, told Business Standard.

"In view of the recession, many units are observing two-three days closure in a week. Instead of this, it would be better if the processing industry observes a collective closure as it would help a great deal in improving the overall situation," he said.

Pramod Chaudhary, director, Pratibha Fabrics, echoed similar views. "The proposed closure is aimed at bringing down production. There is no demand in the industry, and we believe the situation would change for the better if the processing houses observe a collective closure for some days," Chaudhary said.

Jitu Vakharia, vice-president, Pandesara Green Environment & Water Welfare Co-op Society, said, "Majority of the processing units are working at 40-50 per cent capacity, which is hurting us financially. A vacation, of around seven or ten days, would help us cut utility costs on power, coal, and payment to workers, and also help stabilise the supply-demand chain."

"We have convened a meeting of the processing unit owners of Pandesara GIDC this evening to discuss the issue and seek their opinion about the proposed vacation. Similar meetings would also be held in other industrial estates over the next 2-3 days. Though many processors are in favour of the vacation, an appropriate decision would be taken after knowing the opinion of everyone," he added.

It is worth mentioning here that there are around 425 processing units in Surat city and the district. Of these, around 350 units are operational, while the remaining have closed down.

Since several months, the processing industry is being plagued by various issues such as hike in prices of dyes, chemicals and other raw material. The industry has approached the central government and sought relaxation in taxes and duties on these goods in the forthcoming Union Budget.