28 September 2022, Mumbai:
Textile units in Surat are struggling to revive from the current crisis of sluggish demand despite the onset of the festive season.
Surat is India’s biggest manmade fabric hub. Though textile units witnessed some spurt in demand ahead of Navratri festivities, this has not been enough to clear existing stock. Apart from subdued demand, units functioning at every stage of the textile value chain in Surat are facing challenges of increased input costs.
Hardly a quarter of enquiries are being translated into actual buying. In most cases, sellers and buyers do not agree on prices and hence business does not happen. Production cost has gone up drastically, making it difficult for Surat-based units to supply fabrics at lower prices.
Buyers want newly designed fabric and hence most textile units are struggling to clear inventories. Margins of weavers have also reduced due to increased input costs. Over the past couple of months, there has been a marginal increase in demand but not enough to run weaving units at full capacity.
The Rs 80,000 crore Surat textile industry produces over 40 million meters of fabric a day. The cluster houses more than seven lakh power looms and over 400 processing units.
