Mr.Rajkumar adds that Tamil Nadu produces only five to six lakh bales of cotton as against its requirement of 120 lakh bales and the balance quantity is procured from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, etc., by paying huge lorry freight.
He has added that the steep increase in diesel price has made the lorry freight abnormal and today the cost of transportation for a truck load of 100 bales is up to Rs.1,10,000/-, Rs.67,000/-, Rs.55,000/-, Rs.40,000/- respectively between Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh & Karnataka. He has stated that lorry freights have been increased up to Rs.10,000/- per truck load of 100 bales during the last two months.
The predominantly cotton based Indian textile industry, particularly Tamil Nadu textile industry which accounts for 47.5% of the spinning capacity#
SIMA Chief further adds that the labour cost has increased up to Rs.20/- per day in the recent months and the mills are also using diesel generators partially which have also increased the cost. Mr.Rajkumar has stated that the increase in cotton price alone would have an impact of Rs.25 per kg of yarn which has been only partly passed on to the downstream sectors, which is unavoidable to sustain the viability.
THE SOUTHERN INDIA MILLS' ASSOCIATION