TIRUPPUR: Thousands of power looms in Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts were forced to stop production as grey textile manufacturers began a 20-day prduction freeze on Sunday and stopped the supply of warp yarn (Paavu Nool).
Coimbatore-Tirupur powerloom unit owners association secretary Balasubramanian said, “There are more than 1.25 lakh powerloom weaving units in the two districts that are dependent on warp yarn from grey fabric (textile) manufacturers, who are the master weavers.
But, they closed facilities citing issues related to financial issues. Earlier, they used to offer a weaving charge of Rs 6-Rs 7 per 50 inches of fabrics (20s count category). But, due to COVID-19 and the lockdown, they reduced it and we fought to get a raise.”
“Currently, many grey fabric manufacturers have reduced weaving charges to 30-40 paise. Also, most of the workers are from other districts and they will be leaving for Deepavali. A few hundred workers from Bihar and Jharkhand will also be leaving on the weekend.”
Speaking to TNIE, Palladam Powerloom Weaving Units Owners Association president P Velusamy said, “Running powerloom units has become very difficult. In 2022, we had a fight with the grey textile manufacturers over weaving charges between January- February 2022.
After much efforts, the textile companies decided to offer the weaving charges for various qualities of fabrics. But, we are faced with a new problem from these manufacturers this Deepavali. Since the grey textile companies are suffering from various issues including a lack of buyers and power tariff hike, they have decided to stop supplying warp yarn (Paavu Nool). Since warp yarn is a key ingredient in weaving cloth, we are also forced to stop our machines.”
An official from the handloom department (TN Government) said, “We have not received any representation from grey fabrics or powerloom units on this issue. Besides, the situation is market-related. The situation will become normal as this is just a 20-day protest.”