Tirupur industry on rebound, migrant workers ignore Deepavali for work this year

COIMBATORE: The apparel sector in Tirupur is in for better times as pouring work orders from both domestic and international markets has impressed upon a majority of migrant workers to stay back from going to their hometowns this Deepavali.

It used to be an annual phenomenon for migrant workers to leave the textile hub of Tirupur at this time of the year. They would also take longer to return and perhaps their extended holiday would take a toll on apparel production. But, this year remains an exception.

“A majority of migrant workers arrived in Tirupur only a few months ago as the apparel sector limped back to normalcy, after several years of staggered growth due to poor demand from the market. So, there is no major desertion by the migrant workforce and they continue to stay here due to continuous work availability,” said Kumar Duraiswamy, Joint Secretary of Tiruppur Exporters Association.

Similarly, workers from Southern districts who left for the festival have also started to return to work with the apparel sector resuming brisk production.

“Apparel units have begun to function with around 40 per cent of the workforce on Monday after the holiday weekend. In another couple of days, the units will start to function to their full capacity with the entire fleet of workforce,” he added

Industrialists claimed that both the domestic and export markets are going well after years of COVID-19 impact.

“The political unrest in Bangladesh has turned the attention of European countries towards the textile sector in Tirupur. Also, the industries in Tirupur are embracing the latest technology through automation of machinery, while catering to the latest requirements. The apparel sector has registered an impressive growth of 17.5 per cent in US Dollars from September 2023 to September 2024,” claimed industrialists.

For Tirupur, the domestic trade value is around Rs 25,000 crore, while exports hovers around Rs 33,000 to 35,000 crore.

Echoing a similar view, MP Muthurathinam, president of Tirupur Exporters and Manufacturers Association (TEAMA) said the business volume for Deepavali was better this year as compared to previous years.

“There is no issue of labour crunch now as a majority of workers have stayed back in Tirupur. Yet, production has not rebounded to its usual self unlike a few years ago. While bigger firms are functional, the smaller units have slowed down in production. Even the existing workers are sufficient to run the operations,” he said.

Tirupur churns out over 50 per cent of knitwear garments in India, while employing more than six lakh labourers directly and another four lakh workers indirectly. Of them, a majority of workers are migrants from states like Bihar, Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.