Ludhiana: Almost after a gap of more than a year, garment expos that were earlier a routine affair in the city, have resumed, but with a change. Unlike before when events were held at marriage palaces and banquet halls with hundreds of people gathered at one venue, this time the Ludhiana garment manufacturers are organising exhibitions inside hotel rooms.
Lately, 96 rooms of a city’s five-star hotel on Ferozepur Road have been booked by garment manufacturers to run a three-day expo, starting Monday. Though earlier too exhibitors would book rooms, the major focus of the event used to be the exhibition in the common hall.
In wake of the situation, businessmen are either overdrawing their bank limits or are requesting their dealers to increase credit days till the time the payment cycle resumes back to normal.
LUDHIANA: After the ending of lockdowns in other states and the resumption of the movement of finished goods, the city industrialists are now facing fund crunch. According to businessmen, for over two months, the payments from majority of their customers for already supplied orders remained pending due to lockdown and now they are short of funds to execute the new orders immediately.
In wake of the situation, businessmen are either overdrawing their bank limits or are requesting their dealers to increase credit days till the time the payment cycle resumes back to normal.
Ludhiana: Relieved though at the sight of easing lockdowns in the other states and hopeful that goods will start moving, the garment and textile producers have a new worry in the fluctuating rates of yarn, their biggest raw material. They claim that the hike is artificial.
The manufacturers look to the state and central governments for help in increasing production. Sharing his concerns with the media, Bharatiya Vyapar Mandal senior vice-president Radhe Shyam Ahuja said: “In the last one year, the price of yarn increased by 64% or more. The cost of each kilogram of acrylic yarn moved from Rs 170 in September 2020 to now Rs 280. PC Yarn which, one of the commonest raw material, went from Rs 150 to Rs 240 in the same interval, while cotton yarn blew up from Rs 250 to Rs 300.”
Ludhiana: Garment and textile industry is upbeat over several states easing lockdown curbs that has ignited hope of movement of their goods in transit.
Ludhiana: Claiming that the second wave of coronavirus has struck them a heavy blow, local industrialists are demanding a relief package for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME).
Cautioning that if nothing is done at the earliest by the Centre and the state governments, thousands of units in Ludhiana might shut down permanently. Businessmen are also angry with the GST council for failing to announce any rate cuts on auto parts, paints and consumer durables that have a high tax rate of 28%.
According to Jagbir Sokhi, president of Sewing Machine Development Club, “Many units in MSME sector, which was already hit badly during the first wave of coronavirus, may close down. During the first wave, the Centre took some steps like EMI moratorium, 20% emergency credit facility, among others, to bail out the industry. These measures were not enough, but the industry still managed to sail through as there was uniformity in lockdown unlike this time when every state has its own set o