SURAT REPORT

ASHISH GUJARATI

PRESIDENT PANDESARA WEAVERS CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY LTD

Surat Textile Industry Revival post lockdown -Need for Improved Labour availability

An International webinar on SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS AND PROCESSES was held on 4 th July, 2020 by the Department of Textile and Fashion Technology of College Home Science, Nirmala Niketan, Affiliated to University of Mumbai, NAAC Accredited A Grade. Delegates included students, teachers, professionals, and others related to this field at National and International level. Background Phased relaxations in lockdown from end May-20 resulted in parSurat Operations are still reeling at 30 % in Plain Power looms, 35 % in Surat is the largest domestic contial start-up of textile units in Surat. Warp knitting, 50% in Circular knitsumption centre of man-made However, operating rates of all the ting & processing and around 60% yarns & fibres, with fabric producsegments remained very low due in the Waterjet, Rapier & Air Jet segtion of over 3.5 Crs. Mtrs/day. to lack of retail demand and unment. Slow paced reverse labour availability of migrant labour. Some migration is a major limiting factor Textile Industry is a major employclusters of Textile units produced for Surat Industry operations revivment provider in Surat with around Masks & PPE gears during the lockal, and the Industry apex bodies like 450 Process houses, 850 Warp Knitdown, for govt orders, with mini‘SGCCI’ & other Industrial & Textile ting Machines, 1600 Circular Knitmum available labour. Market associations need to take up ting Machinea, 78000 Auto looms & ~ 6.6 Lakh Plain Power looms in operation, with around 177 Textile markets operating fully in a normal situation. Majority textile industry in Surat operates in a fragmented and decentralized way with SME sector units forming bulk of the Production capacities. Approx. 10-12 Lakhs Slow Paced Operations Revival Post Unlock Phase 1 With Unlock Phase 1 starting from June’20, textile units across India re-started their operations. Surat, however has been the slowest in terms of revival of operations and started gaining marginal pace only this issue with local administration & ‘Govt. of Gujarat’ on priority basis. Surat industry is at the risk of losing its leadership position in the Indian textile industry due to this delayed operational revival, and fast track reverse migration is the need of the hour. Migrant labourers, majorly from the in second fortnight of Aug’20. Other Recommendation states of Bihar, Rajasthan, Odisha Major textile Markets have improved & Uttar Pradesh, have a significant their operational efficiencies signifiWe recommend to fast track the role in the Surat textile industry opcantly with Tarapur, Silvassa (Knitprocess of reverse labour migration erations. ting based operations) at ~60-70%, with increased availability of rail, Impact of Covid-19 Lockdown on Surat Industry Bhiwandi/Ichalkaranji/Malegaon at ~50-70%, Northern markets of Ludhiana & Panipat (Mink & Shearroad & other Public transport op tions from the states of Bihar, Odis ha, Rajasthan & Uttar Pradesh. Textile Industry in Surat remained practically shut from March last week till end of May-20, due to lockdowns to prevent spread of covid-19. Majority of the migrant labours returned to their native states during the lockdown period. ing based) operations at ~70-75%, Bhilwara, Mau, Tanda & Varanasi at 50-60% & even Southern markets of Elastic Tape, Weaving, Knitting & Garmenting in Tirupur, Erode, Karur & Salem at around 65% operations. This step is very crucial to improve the labour availability situation in de-centralised textile business and regain the domestic leadership position in textile market as in the Precovid-19 Era.