Spinning mills to stop work from today

COIMBATORE: Spinning mills in the Micro Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSME) sector in Tamil Nadu will stop production from Saturday as they are incurring heavy losses.

The MSME sector is also bringing to halt the sale of yarn. “The spinning sector has been suffering huge losses for the first time in the last 20 years as exports of yarn and textiles have declined by around 28 percent. A mill with 10,000 spindles producing 2,500 kg of yarn incurs a loss of Rs 1 lakh per day. If the situation persists, the spinning mills may soon become non-performing assets (NPA) and face the risk of permanent closure,” said G Subramaniam, president of Indian Spinning Mill Owners Association (ISPA).

One of the main reasons for the crisis in the spinning sector is the 11 percent import duty levied on cotton. “The price of domestic cotton is 15 percent higher as India has lost many international orders and is unable to compete with neighbouring countries in export of yarn, fabric and clothing. The mills are at a standstill unable to repay bank loans, make cotton purchases, pay electricity bills, GST and to meet out other expenses,” said S Jagadesh Chandran, secretary of South India Spinners Association (SISPA), Coimbatore.