Enquiries for fresh orders from traders in other states have stopped over the last one week due to fear of stringent restrictions by the government to control the spread of the pandemic.

“The buyers from north Indian states fear that they may not be able to make payments if businesses take a hit and want to wait for a while before placing orders. Hence, orders for grey rayon fabric has nosedived to a near nil status over the last few days,” said B Kandavel, spokesperson of Erode Vhisaithari Urimayalargal Sangam (Erode Power loom Owners Association)

The fabric produced in thousands of power loom units here are transported for value addition to Delhi, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Calcutta, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

There, the fabric is dyed and made into garments for exports.

“From 25 lakh metres, the rayon fabric production has come down to 15 lakh metres over the last one week. Also, the pricing of the fabric has been slashed by Rs 1 per metre from Rs 27 to Rs 26. Falling prices of the fabric has led to power loom manufacturers suffering a loss of Rs 3 per metre. It costs Rs 30 to produce a metre of the fabric,” he added.

Over 25,000 power loom units manufacturing rayon fabric employ 15,000 workers directly and 10,000 workers indirectly. The power loom units which were yet to come out of the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak last year have urged the government not to go for complete lockdown as it may completely ruin their source of livelihood. Erode is a hub for power looms manufacturing rayon fabric with almost 75 per cent of its production across Tamil Nadu is from the district.