Chennai, May 12 (IANS): Garment units in Tamil Nadu's Tiruppur will down their shutters from Friday evening till May 24 in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus, said a top official of the Tiruppur Exporters Association (TEA).
The decision would alo impact the reputation of the industry here as there will be delay in export order fulfillment, TEA President Raja M. Shanmugam told IANS.
"We have decided to shut down the units from Friday till May 24 as a measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus. The industry here is structured in such a way that there will be movement of people for various processes," he said.
Shanmugam said the industry is currently doing a total business of about Rs 400 crore per day, divided equally between exports and domestic sales.
"It is only now the European and the US markets that have opened up and orders have been placed. The closure due to Covid-19 will impact the delivery schedules and may affect the reputation and future orders. But we decided to close down so that the coronavirus spread is stopped," he said.
According to him, all the units are implementing the Covid-19 safety protocols.
As on Tuesday, a total of 3,912 persons in Tiruppur were undergoing treatment for Covid-19 and the daily new infection case numbered over 500.
The District Collector had also shared his apprehensions about surge in Covid-19 numbers and the resultant demand on hospital beds and oxygen.
As a result, the industry has decided to go for a shutdown.
On the risk of migrant workers going back to their native states due to the closure, Shanmugam said those who wanted to go back home have gone back during the past ten days.
"The remaining workers have stayed back and the units employing them will take care of their needs during the lockdown period," he said.
According to him, orders for casual wear for men, women and children are there.
Last fiscal, the hosiery units in Tiruppur closed with a total business of about Rs 45,000 crore, of which exports were Rs 25,150 crore down from Rs 27,250 crore registered during 2019-20, TEA Executive Secretary S. Sakthivel had told IANS recently.