Surat has seen a 40 per cent drop in polyester production and over five lakh job losses. Surat is the polyester capital of India. After demonetisation, consumers and businesses drastically reduced their textile purchases and GST saw the tax rates for many textiles vastly increase. The lack of buyers and higher tax rates caused huge numbers of textile manufacturing workers to become unemployed and also slowed down production.

A year ago Surat produced 40 million meters of polyester a day, the figure now stands at only 25 million meters. Most migrant workers have returned to their home states. Factories that once ran for 24 hours a day only have two shifts daily now. The entire polyester value chain from yarns to garments is under pressure. The withdrawal of high-value banknotes put sudden brakes on the disposable income of consumers, with grave consequences.

Textiles have been almost erased from customers’ priority list. Shops which usually gear up for the forthcoming wedding season wear a dull look. Surat ushered in the polyester revolution in the country, offering saris and dress material at Rs 125. Surat boasts of 7,00,000 looms that make the grey fabric bought by 65,000 traders. The grey fabric would go to the 400 dyeing and processing houses and get routed to embroidery units for embellishments for the final garment.