Industrial hubs resume functioning, face issues of labour availability, disruption in supply chain

A day after the Delhi government announced relaxations during the extended lockdown, the industrial hubs in the city resumed functioning on Tuesday but faced issues of labour availability and disruptions in supply chain.

The Delhi government issued an order, allowing industrial firms to function with staggered timings.

According to the order, industrialfirms whose name starts with A to L were allowed to function from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm while other firms whose name started with M to Z were allowed to resume from 8.30 am to 6.30 pm in Delhi.

Nearly 300 out of around 1,100 units in Mayapuri Industrial Area opened on Tuesday, following the relaxations announced by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday.

The situation will not improve untill all the links in the chain, including raw materials, manufacturing, transport, labour and the market are restored, said RK Gupta, general secretary ofMayapuri Rewari Line Industrial Welfare Association.

"The real extent of the problem of labour availability will be felt when all the industrial units in the city start working, since the migrant workers have moved in large numbers to their states during the lockdown," he said.

Gupta said the industries can face the challenges in a better way, provided the institutional corruption is brought down, saving the wealth creators from unnecessary formalities.

Nearly one-fourth of around 550 industrial units started work in another hub at Udyog Nagar, saidAshok Gupta, president of Udyog Nagar Industry Association.

The west Delhi industrial hub manufactures footwear, engineering goods and PPE raw material units.

"Many units did not open because their factory licences expired in March and no fresh licenses were issued to them by the concerned agency," Gupta said.

He said there were many challenges including availability of labourers, capital and disruptions in the market due to the lockdown. But the step taken by the government is in the right direction, he added.