‘Need Relief From Govt Urgently’: Badly Hit Surat Textile Industry

Video Editor: Vivek Gupta

With factories shut, no jobs and no means to pay salaries of workers, Gujarat’s badly hit Surat textile industry urged the government to provide economic packages or relief funds.

Pramod Chaudhary, Managing Director of Pratibha Industry, said in a conversation with The Quint that it will take some time for the now fully shut Surat textile industry to come back on track after the lockdown is lifted. Till then about 20 to 25 lakh labourers of Surat are going to suffer.

“For the past one month, the industry has been closed. Earlier, too, the textile industry was not doing that great and now the government’s notification says that their salaries need to be paid while they sit at home. That’s a big challenge. It is difficult to get money from the bank and since there’s no trading, it is difficult to get money from the market.”

Pramod Chaudhary, MD, Pratibha Industry, Surat

‘Need Govt’s Support in the Current Situation’

Chaudhary said that it is very difficult to take a loan from the bank or take money from the market amid the crisis.

The textile industry benefits during the festival and the wedding season. This wedding season is from May to June, and the preparation starts from March-April but now the opportunity has gone, he said.

Chaudhary predicted that if the lockdown is lifted soon and the COVID-19 crisis is controlled in time, the industry can try and recover by Diwali. He added that if anyone can save the industry now, it is the government.

“We need the government’s support in order to pay the salaries of the labourers. The working capital has been exhausted. This is how the government can contribute. All kinds of refunds – GST, income tax – should be released soon. Subsidies that have been blocked for so many years should be released now, so that the working capital of the industry gets better and we’ll be able to resume the industry.”

Pramod Chaudhary, MD, Pratibha Industry, Surat