CHENNAI: Come May 6, and sewing machines will swing back into action in the Tirupur garment cluster in Tamil Nadu, one of the biggest textile manufacturing hubs in the country. The garment manufacturers and exporters in Tirupur have heaved a sigh of relief as the district administration allowed the export units to resume operations, though by strictly adhering to the safety guidelines at their units.
The exporters are happy as the relaxation will help them to get the much-needed export orders for autumn and winter collections. “We missed the spring- summer collection season, but by resuming operations now, we can still catch orders for autumn and winter collections. The relaxation will give some boost to the sector, but the revival from losses will take a long time,” said A Sakthivel, chairman of Apparel Export Promotion Council. The garment manufacturers need to send samples to different brands overseas, and if approved, they get export orders. Sakthivel said AEPC has issued strict orders to the firms to follow safety norms.
Earlier, Tirupur Exporters’ Association had written to Central and state governments seeking reopening of the textile hub, so that they can send samples to clients in the US and Europe and retain export orders for spring-summer collection. Else, they could have lost the orders to countries like China, Bangladesh and Pakistan, where factories were functional. The relaxation has brought relief to the sector.
TEA president Raja M Shanmugam said that in first phase, at least 600-700 export units will resume operations with at least 25 per cent of the workforce. “We will follow all sanitation measures... Social distancing will be maintained in the units. Slowly, looking at the situation, we will ramp up production,” Shanmugam said.