Concerns arise among textile and garment manufacturers in Coimbatore and Tiruppur as investors shift away from Tamil Nadu to other states. This migration not only poses a risk of losing investments and capacities but also threatens the expertise within the textile industry, warns Palaniswamy, a garment manufacturer.
Integrated garment units in Tamil Nadu are expanding to states like Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, while some significant players outsource orders to cut production costs, redirecting business to West Bengal and other northern states. Rising power and labor costs, coupled with the need to procure raw materials externally, make Tamil Nadu's textile industry less competitive, notes K Selvaraju, Secretary General of the Southern India Mills' Association (SIMA). He suggests that these factors might lead to the closure of 30% of textile mills in the state in the future.
To counter these challenges, Prabhu Dhamodharan, Convenor of the Indian Texpreneurs Federation, emphasizes the need for the state government to modernize the textile industry and enhance competitiveness. Reducing production costs is also crucial for the industry to reclaim its share in the yarn export market, he adds.
