Stalin writes to Modi, flags 'serious disruptions' in textile industry

CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday urged the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to clear the hurdles currently faced by the textile industry in Tamil Nadu.

"A large number of spinning, weaving and garment units face danger of closure due to unsustainable demands on their working capital and price mismatch between the agreed price of supply to the buyer vis-a-vis the cost of production. As a result, the manufacturers of garments are suffering huge losses and many MSME units have already closed their operations resulting in massive job losses in a sector that is traditionally an employment generator," said Stalin, in a DO letter.

Hon'ble @PMOIndia, The continuing price rise of cotton and yarn has widespread ramifications for the textile industry in TN which is traditionally an employment generator.

I request you to take serious note of this precarious situation and rein in the price rise. pic.twitter.com/SSeJqo2CqI

— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) May 16, 2022

The rise in price of cotton yarn had been a cause of concern for the textile industry and after continuous efforts by the State government and repeated letters by the Chief Minister to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Union Minister of Textiles and Commerce Piyush Goyal, the import duty levied on cotton was withdrawn by the Union government. However, the situation has not improved much as members of the textile industry are staging protests on Monday demanding urgent intervention for reduction in prices.

To cull the growing discontent in the industry, Stalin has suggested immediate measures such as mandatory stock declaration of cotton and yarn for all spinning mills so that ginners and cotton traders can obtain actual data on cotton and yarn availability, issuing suitable clarification on waiver of import duty that import duty will be available for all contracts entered up to September 30, extension of time for credit given to the spinning mills for the purchase of cotton from three to four months and reduction in margin money sought by the banks from 25 to 10 per cent of purchase value as banks are calculating the purchase stock value at lesser rates than the actual purchase rates in the market.