CHENNAI: Raja Shanmugham, president of Tirupur Exporters’ Association, receives 60 calls on an average from worried garment traders and exporters, who are clueless on their future as the coronavirus outbreak has put an abrupt stop to their businesses. Shanmugam patiently lends an ear and apprises them of the association’s efforts to revive the industry. He said he is trying his best to allay fears, ever since a 34-year-old garment manufacturer ended his life on March 24.
The Tirupur garment industry, which has over 10,000 manufacturing units, is facing the worst time ever. The garment clusters that employ over 6 lakh people is staring at a loss of over Rs 10,000 crore in just three months. For both the small and big firms, the road to revival seems difficult.
Shanmugam said the Tirupur exports industry used to see a turnover of Rs 2,500 crore per month on an average, but the units have not yet received their payment dues for January and February.
“As coronavirus affected the EU, Canada and other markets, the brands have not made our payments. Besides, the shipments released in March are right now on high seas or lying at the ports. Nobody knows when these shipments will be cleared and taken to warehouses or when we will get the dues.
Even after the lockdown is over, we may hardly be able do any business in April. Even the domestic market, which is also worth Rs 2,500 crore a month, is affected. We may see Rs 10,000-12,000 crore loss in just three months,” Shanmugam said.
The business hub of Tamil Nadu is wearing a deserted look. The association says chances of its revival depend solely on government patronage as most firms have bank loans and insufficient working capital.
The association has requested the government for a moratorium of at least one year. “It’s clear that in next three months we won’t get any major export orders as coronavirus has battered economies globally. So, how will we pay our loans? The government should also infuse at least 25 per cent of working capital into the industry, else we have no chance of a revival,” said the association.