Match units in a fix as workers get busy with polls
This unhealthy trend has pulled down the sale of finished goods by 40 percent. Several players in the industry were on the verge of going bust as they could not pay back loans obtained from banks for mechanizing the manufacturing plants.
Lok Sabha poll puts spanner in the woks of match factories in State
MADURAI: Now, match manufacturers find the going tough as most of the workers were called to join campaigning by various political parties, which gear up to face the Lok Sabha election on April 19.
According to M Paramasivam, president, National Small Match Manufacturers Association, Kovilpatti, several match factories remain shut because of the shortage of workers. Many factories were closed down for over a week now. He said already this manufacturing sector is going through a downturn with the prevalence of cigar lighters, which created serious problems that the market could not cope with.
This unhealthy trend has pulled down the sale of finished goods by 40 percent. Several players in the industry were on the verge of going bust as they could not pay back loans obtained from banks for mechanizing the manufacturing plants.
Match manufacturing factories mostly turned to partially and fully mechanized units. ‘It incurs an expenditure of Rs 4 crore to Rs 5 crore on mechanization for a manufacturing plant. The process of chemical dipping and box filling are mechanized. Even though production becomes a mechanized process, it still requires workforce for other aspects of the production. But since the market is not thriving, many players in the industry are likely to be forced out of business’,
Paramasivam told DT NEXT on Sunday, adding that the only way to ensure the survival is to enforce a ban on import of cigar lighter, which is plaguing the industry, replacing the use of match sticks.
J Devadoss, secretary, South India Match Manufacturers Association, not only the makers are struggling with the sluggish market in domestic trade, but also in export trade. Exports did not take off much on expected lines over the last one and half years as the African countries, the largest buyer of Kovilpatti matches, were left behind dollar shortage.
S Palanikumar, a manufacturer from Sattur, Virudhunagar district, said gone are the days when traders from parts of North India got access to Kovilpatti, Sattur, Sivakasi and Virudhunagar bought matchstick boxes. Now, production has dwindled.
