Friday 7 November 2008

Textile industry may lay-off 5-6 lakh employees

The textile industry, which has warned the government of 5-6 lakh lay-offs due to the global downturn, today said the PMO "totally ignored" its interests and the largest employment-generating sector after agriculture was feeling "let down".

The Northern India Textile Mills Association (NITMA) said that none of its representatives was invited to the meeting convened by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on November 3 to discuss the state of the economy.

"The Prime Minister had appealed to industry to avoid large-scale layoffs in the wake of the global economic crisis ... The textile industry was totally ignored by the Prime Minister's Office. This is the industry which is going to lay off maximum jobs due to increased maximum cotton price and cancellation of orders by the US due to recession," NITMA President Sunil Jain said.

Top industry leaders like Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Bharti Mittal and the heads of three apex chambers - the CII, the FICCI, Assocham - attended the meeting convened by the Prime Minister.

Jain said the spinning sector in particular is in a difficult situation because of increased costs of inputs, mainly cotton.

The industry, directly and indirectly, employs about 35 million people.

Jain said the export sops have been withdrawn in India, while countries like China and Pakistan have substantially increased incentives for their exporters.

Garment exporters have reported a 30-35 per cent drop in volume in the July-September quarter.

The Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) has estimated 6-7 lakh people are facing job threats because of a slump in export demand.

Source: EconomicTimes

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