Surat,
Gujarat
The coal crisis in the country has
hit the textile processing units very badly in Surat. Nearly 400 units,
employing close to 500,000 people, plan to cut down production from next month
because of rising coal prices.
Industry executives said that an
increase of nearly 50% in costs of colour and other chemicals in the past two
months has added to the woes of textile processors. The processors are
importing coal from Indonesia, prices of which have shot up to Rs 18,800 per
tonne a few months ago. Lignite coal production in the country has been
affected due to the monsoon, which is why the units are now depending on
imported coal to meet 80-90% of their requirement.
The system involves the weavers
selling grey cloth to textile wholesalers who then send it to the mills for
dyeing, printing and finishing. The boilers in dyeing and printing units
generate steam using coal.
The processing units in Surat are
major suppliers of cotton and rayon textiles across India. They process the raw
fabrics and send them to the textile wholesalers. In Surat alone, there are nearly 60,000 textile wholesalers. Pramod
Chaudhary, chairman of Pratibha Group of Industries, said the cost of
production has gone up 25-30% following the increase in coal prices. Rising
freight cost has added to the production cost.
Source:
The Economic Times
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