Garment exporters in Tiruppur and home textile exporters in Karur have decided to stop production. Tiruppur has over 1,200 exporters and thousands of supporting units. Together the industry employs nearly six lakh workers. The entire chain, including industries supplying to the domestic market, will come to a halt from tomorrow.

Industries are facing severe financial crisis. The market is also not accepting the goods. The District Administration has given orders to stop all trading activities in the district, he added. It is estimated that the goods worth ₹750 crore will not be produced from Tuesday for eight days.

M Nachimuthu the president of Karur Exporters’ Association revealed that about 500 exporting units that employ nearly two lakh workers in Karur have decided to stop production from March 24 to 31. The units will pay wages to the workers for these days. The annual export turnover of Karur is nearly Rs 5,000 crore. Just 20 per cent of the buyers are willing to take the orders placed. However, exporters face challenges in sending these goods too, he said.

Many industries of the Southern India Mills’ Association has communicated have suspended their operations and shut down the units till March 31 or till normalcy is restored to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Those units that are not in a position to operate the mills are advised to provide lay off to the workers. But, in the case of lay off, 50 per cent of the wages need to be paid, till suspension is revoked.