MSME Owners In Coimbatore Raise Concerns Over Prolonged Model Code Impact menafn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from menafn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Coimbatore: Three days after they went into indefinite shutdown to protest the soaring prices of raw materials such as pig iron and stainless steel and scrap, small-scale foundries in the district on Saturday decided to resume operations from Monday at a meeting that was convened by the Coimbatore Tiny and Small Foundry Owners’ Association (Cosmafan).
More than 400 small-scale foundries had stopped production on Wednesday after prices of raw materials had gone up by 26% on an average since November.
Speaking to TOI, A Sivashanmuga Kumar, president, Cosmafan, said the decision to resume production was taken after most of their customers agreed to the price revision by at least 25% and to retain labourers. He said they were hopeful that the Union government would take necessary measures to control the price rise.
Coimbatore: Around 400 foundries remained closed for the second day on Thursday to protest the steep rise in prices of raw materials. Foundry owners demanded the Union government to take steps to control the increase in steel prices and requested to constitute a committee to monitor the price hike.
The protesting foundries are members of the Coimbatore Tiny and Small Foundry Owners Association. They are mainly located at Arasur, Manickampalayam, Peelamedu, Irugur and Keeranatham in the district.
It is to be noted that pump makers, wet grinder makers, and automobile and textile industries are dependent on foundries, which make metal castings. These units need steel, the price of which has shot up by 30% since November. The units started indefinite strike on Wednesday, demanding the Centre to impose ban on steel export and reduce steel price.
Coimbatore: More than 400 small-scale foundries in the district downed their shutters indefinitely on Wednesday to condemn the central and state governments for their inaction in controlling the spiraling prices of raw materials.
The shutdown would affect lakhs of workers who are working in and with foundries and other industries including pumps, textile machinery, automobiles and other engineering industries.
“The price of raw materials has increased up to 30% since November. When about 80% of our investment is required to procure raw materials, it is impossible to continue doing business mainly for the small-scale industries who had been working with minimal profit margin. Even though half of our customers have agreed to revise the price, we decided to continue the strike. We want to gain the attention of both the state and central governments who remain silent despite escalating the issue multiple times,” president of Coimbatore Tiny and Small Foundry Owners Association (C
The foundry owners sought the Centre s intervention to control the rising prices of raw materials.
Speaking to journalists on Monday, A Sivashanmuga Kumar, president of Coimbatore Tiny and Small Foundry Owners Association (Cosmafan) said, “Most of the foundries are badly affected during the lockdown period and after a long struggle, it is only now we have started to increase the production. The raise in raw materials price has come as another blow to us.”
Pointing out that the prices of the raw materials have been increasing around the same time since the last four years, he said, this year, along with the main raw materials allied components prices have also increased by 116%.