Almost all industries in Coimbatore and Tiruppur districts will remain shut for one week from Monday because of complete lockdown in the State to control the pandemic.
Just about 10 % of MSMEs in Coimbatore are in essential and healthcare sectors and only these will operate, said M.V. Ramesh Babu, president of Coimbatore District Small Industries Association. While the foundries in the MSME sector will not operate, the larger foundries are expected to decide individually.
Spinning mills will not function as the government had not given permission even to those units that house the workers on the premises. Garment exporting units will also remain closed.
“Lockdown for a short period is expected bring down the COVID cases. Coimbatore, Tiruppur, and Erode are industrial clusters and have a large number of COVID cases too. Probably that is the reason why the units have not been given permission to operate. If the lockdown extends beyond a week, we may appeal to the government for
exemptions,” said Prabhu Dhamodharan, covener of Indian Texpreneurs Association.
“What is different this year from last year’s lockdown is that last year, the entire world was under lockdown. Now, only India is affected. Hence, it is imperative to take swift action to bring down the cases. If not, the economy and exports will be hit,” said Raja M. Shanmugham, president of Tiruppur Exporters’ Association.
The Coimbatore and Tiruppur District Micro and Cottage Entrepreneurs Association said its members will extend full cooperation to the lockdown. However, the government should grant time to pay mandatory taxes and also extend interest-free loans to the micro units, it said.
