Coronavirus: Textile industry for moratorium on loan repayment

The Southern India Mills'

Association (SIMA) on Tuesday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to mandate banks to provide a one-year moratorium for repayment of principal and interest amount to enable the textile and clothing industry tide over the crisis due to coronavirus.

The country has never witnessed such a crisis situation before and therefore, the industry required a helping hand from the government through this measure, SIMA chairman Ashwin Chandran said in a representation.

If the Centre agrees to this, it would go a long way in helping the industry tide over the crisis and ensure its survival, the SIMA chairman.

 

COVID-19 is affecting every sphere of life, including manufacturing activities, businesses across the globe and India is also not spared from the panic situation, he said.

The textile industry predominantly employs migrant workers from different states and also a large population comes for work from far-off places using public transport, he said.

Under the current scenario, especially the constant preventive measures being taken and awareness created by the government to fight against the pandemic, majority of the workers were not reporting for work and the migrant workers were also returning to their native places, Ashwin said.

This situation is likely to intensify and result in mass stoppage of production in the industry, he said.

With the expected steep reduction in demand due to sudden stoppage of exports/imports and also domestic sales due to the closure of malls and retail showrooms, the industry is likely to face unprecedented and severe losses and needs immediate financial relief to mitigate the crisis, he said.

Therefore, the textile industry, being labour and capital-intensive, needs immediate help to tide over the worst ever crisis being faced by the industry, Ashwin said.

Knitwear exporters from nearby Tirupur had already appealed to the Finance Minister Nirmala Seetharaman seeking financial measures, including moratorium, to help MSMEs to overcome the crisis.