Textile mill owners apprehensive about future ops, business revival

Coimbatore: Most of the textile mill owners are apprehensive about business revival post lockdown due to issues such as manpower shortage and financial crisis.
As several guest workers have returned to their native places, the industry is facing a huge labour shortage, said Jagadesh Chandran, vice-president of the South India Spinners Association (SISPA). “60 to 80% mill workers are guest workers. Over 70% of them have either left for their states or are getting ready to go back. Even though several industries have resumed operations, the workers do not want to stay back because of the uncertainty over the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown,” he said.
The mills are functioning with 20-25% of the workforce, Chandran said. “We are not sure whether the workers will return or when. We don’t know how to tackle the manpower shortage and resume normal production.”
Operations will become normal only if the workers return, said N Murugesan, president of SISPA. “The electricity board had asked us to pay 90% of charges and slapped a hefty penalty even though not a single unit was used in April. The bills will be an additional burden on mill owners and is unacceptable,” he added.