Garment units seek permission to work

Nivedha Selvam | May 5, 2020, 04:51 IST

Coimbatore: Garment units in Tirupur are likely to start functioning from Wednesday if they manage to obtain due permission from the district administration.
Following the state government’s move to extend the lockdown by another two weeks with some relaxations, district collector K Vijayakarthikeyan held a meeting with representatives from industrial associations on Monday to discuss ways and means to restart business activity – construction and industries – in the district.
Industries and companies in town panchayats, municipality and corporation limit will have to apply through the website – https://tnepass.tnega.org – for permission to commence their business activities. The micro, small and medium industries in rural areas can submit applications manually,” Vijayakarthikeyan said, adding that no business activities will be permitted in containment zones
Permission to reopen a business will be granted only if guidelines on social distancing are followed, he said, adding that if permission is granted, industries could function from May 6.
Raja M Shanmugam, president of Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA) said the application forms would be submitted at the collectorate on Tuesday.
At present, manufacturing units of export oriented industries would be submitting the applications. Officials have assured to open supporting units like knitting, printing and dyeing industries in a phased manner, he added.
“Once the industries are opened, we would start our sampling process and send the sample to our buyers. We can manage to run the industry with 50% of the workforce for about 3 to 6 weeks. It is only when the actual production starts that we would require 100% workforce,” he added.
Meanwhile, the industrialists have been trying to convince guest workers to stay back in the district as industries could start functioning in a couple of days.