Ludhiana textile units worried

Despite outlook having improved for the textile industry, things are not that rosy for them in Ludhiana. Problems like labour and power shortage continue to plague the textile units, impacting their operating margins.

Managing Director of Ludhiana-based Kuvam International Fashion Ltd Sanjeev Kumar Gupta said market for the textile industry was no longer depressing and had started showing improvement.

Managing Director of Superfine Knitwear’s Ltd Ajit Lakra also held things both on domestic as well as export fronts had improved. However, he added issues like labour shortage and power were affecting the industry.

Despite having glut of orders, the profit margins have started tapering for the textile companies owing to numerous problems.

Ajit Lakra added labour shortage had turned to be an acute problem for the industry in Ludhiana, that is considered to be a labour intensive industry. The dearth of manpower in the region has forced industrialists to raise the wage of unskilled labourers, which has eventually hurt the margins. The textile units have demanded from the state government that women workers in the state be allowed to work in third shift also, to help mitigate the labour shortage problem. Lakra adds another cause of concern has been the yarn prices. Yarn prices in last one year have moved up exorbitantly, hurting the textile units.