Tiruppur, Aug 7 (KNN) Around 40 per cent of the hosiery manufacturing units in Tiruppur have stopped operations due to lack of orders, according to the South India Hosiery Manufacturers’ Association.

The Hoseiry Association in a letter to the centre pointed out that due to decline in orders, several units in Tiruppur were stopping production. In the last six years, import of garments from Bangladesh had increased 15 times in value.

The Association president A.C. Eswaran said, “When India signed Free Trade Agreement with Bangladesh in 2011, there was 12 per cent duty on imports from Bangladesh. However, there was no duty now and there were unconfirmed reports that goods from China entered India through Bangladesh. In Bangladesh, the garment industry was supported by the government with subsidies.”

“The Tiruppur industries were unable to compete with Bangladesh imports as the production costs were high here,” he said.

Eswaran urged the government to check garment imports from Bangladesh and also to restrict cotton exports when the new cotton season starts on October 1. “Only surplus cotton should be allowed for exports so that prices of cotton and yarn remained stable,” he added.

South India Hosiery Manufacturers’ Association further added that the domestic textile and garment industry was expected to consume nearly 300 lakh bales of cotton. If the cotton prices dropped below the Minimum Support Price, the Cotton Corporation of India should step in to buy cotton from the farmers.  (KNN Bureau)