The National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) Circuit Bench of Jodhpur, had ordered closure of 739 textile units in Balotra and its surrounding areas of Jasol, Bithuja in Rajasthan during May 2015 for non-adherence to norms laid down by Pollution Control Board. The weaving clusters in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, accounting to over 70% of the powerlooms in the country and also the handloom clusters which were utilizing the dyeing facilities in Rajasthan were seriously affected consequent to the closure of dyeing units in Rajasthan. This created piling up of fabric stocks and affected the production flow across the value chain. The spinning sector which has been already suffering due to reduced exports got affected seriously resulting in lower capacity utilization and crashed yarn prices, resulting in cash losses.
In a Press Release issued recently, Mr.M.Senthilkumar, Chairman, The Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) has stated that NGT’s order dated 4.11.2015 lifting the ban on the operation of textile units in Rajasthan has come as a sigh of relief for the ailing textile industry. He has stated that NGT has specified certain conditions like installation of primary treatment plant, payment of security deposit ranging from Rs.2.00 to Rs.5.00 lakhs per unit, connecting all the dyeing units to the CETP, fixing of meter in the bore well and flow meter for the water pipeline and disposing the sledge in specified areas, etc., and also directed Rajasthan Pollution Control Board to renew the consent immediately after fulfilling the conditions.
SIMA Chairman has said that as majority of the dyeing units were prepared to reopen the units, the problems would come to an end very soon. He has said that this has already given a very good signal and improvement in the yarn market. He has stated that there is a sudden spurt in the demand and the yarn prices also started improving by Rs.4.00 to Rs.6.00 per kg. He hopes that the reopening of dyeing units in Rajasthan has come as a Diwali bonanza for the ailing spinning sector and would help to improve the capacity utilization.
Mr.Senthilkumar has stated that the export demand for cotton yarn has also picked up particularly from countries like China, Vietnam, etc from July 2015 onwards. The total cotton yarn export during January to August 2015 has increased by 11.89% when compared to the same period previous year. The cotton yarn exports to China for the same period has increased by 46.93%. SIMA Chief hoped that the textile industry would revive on a fast track immediately after Diwali and expected to perform well from the New Year.