30 January 2024, Mumbai
Threads of Hope Dangle on a Fraying Loom: India's Textile Crisis Threatens Millions
India's once-booming textile industry is unraveling faster than a dropped spool. Exports have plunged 40%, leaving cotton yarn and handloom producers grasping at scraps of orders.
In Tiruppur, a bustling hub thrumming with 600,000 workers, factories stand eerily silent, echoing with the phantom whir of absent machines.
Textile units, choked by the slack demand from recession-hit US and European markets, cling to shortened workweeks, a desperate bid to retain some workforce. "Continued slump," warns Raja M Shanmugam, ex-president of the Tirupur Exporters' Association, "spells mass layoffs."
Challenges glore
Giants like H&M, GAP, and Tommy Hilfiger, usually thirsty for inventory during peak season, have drastically cut orders, their appetite dampened by economic woes.
The pain runs deep in Tiruppur, a haven for hundreds of labor-intensive MSME units. Shanmugam fears their impending closure, throwing thousands into unemployment.
Macro-headwinds
But the crisis isn't just about dwindling demand. Champala Bothra, General Secretary of the Surat Textile Traders Association, points to the plight of small manufacturers squeezed by two forces: plummeting demand and the reluctance of large traders to work with them due to complex Input Tax Credit (ITC) issues.
This lethal combination pushes them out of the global market, leaving yarn exports to bear the brunt of the decline while finished goods gather dust in choked warehouses.
Call to action
India's vibrant textile tapestry, once woven with the hopes of millions, now hangs precariously, strands fraying at the edges.
The government's silence on industry pleas only amplifies the fear. Unless swift action tackles both external headwinds and internal roadblocks, the fragile threads of hope supporting millions of livelihoods risk snapping altogether.
5 Key Insights from "Threads of Hope Dangle on a Fraying Loom":
1. Boom Gone Bust: Textile Exports Plummet 40%
2. Ghost Town Tiruppur: 600,000 Workers Face Layoffs
3. Recession Bites: H&M, GAP Slash Orders
4. MSME Meltdown: Small Manufacturers Squeezed Out
5. Hope Fading: Government Silence Deepens Anxiety
