Textile industry suffers in Surat

GANDHINAGAR - The textile industry in Surat, Gujarat, suffers due to lack of buyers.

Inflation has severely curtailed the purchasing power of consumers, which in turn has hit several industries.

“Last year was a good year for the traders of Surat, but this year the business is weak. The reason behind declining business is that rising prices is holding the customers back from buying things,” said Devikishan Mangani, President of Federation of Surat Textile Traders Association.

However, the manufacturers in the textile hub expect a turnaround with the upcoming festival season later in the year.

Nearly 30 million meters of raw fabric and 25 million meters of processed fabric are produced in Surat daily.

“Surat’s daily production is three crores. There are seven lakh looms and 150 multi-storeyed markets here, which include 50,000 merchant manufacturers, which are called traders. The average daily transaction is 100-110 crores and the yearly transaction is 30,000-35,000 crores,” said Devikishan Mangani.

The main market for Surat’s textile products are India and other Asian countries. Around 90 percent of polyester used in India comes from Surat. The Middle East is a major market for Surat’s textile products. By Uday Adharvayu (ANI)