Khammam granite industry on brink of closure amid COVID-19 lockdown

The lockdown has forced the owners of granite factories in Khammam to consider shutting shop as they grapple with mounting power bills and royalty, apart from acute workforce crunch.

Published: 12th May 2020 08:40 AM  |   Last Updated: 12th May 2020 08:40 AM   |  A+A A-

Machines at a granite factory lie idle in the absence of workers since the lockdown, in Khammam on Monday

Machines at a granite factory lie idle in the absence of workers since the lockdown, in Khammam on Monday

By Express News Service

KHAMMAM: The lockdown has forced the owners of granite factories in Khammam to consider shutting shop as they grapple with mounting power bills and royalty, apart from acute workforce crunch.
Around 8,000 skilled workers — from Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Odisha — work in the district’s 450 granite slab and 250 tile industries. Due to the lockdown, 50 per cent of the workers have returned to their hometowns.

Though the government allowed the factories to work during the lockdown, the owners were unable to do so with no skilled workers.The industry was also grappling with huge debt, lack of export and zilch demand in the domestic market due to reduced construction activity.

According to State Granite Owners Association president Royala Nageswara Rao, a majority of the owners plan to shut their factories as each of them have to shell out `30,000 to `50,000 towards power bills and `70,000 to `80,000 for royalty per month. Currently, no one is in the position to pay so much, he said. The association appealed to the government to waive the royalty and power bills for six months, failing which the granite industry would not be able to survive.