Gujarat textile industry hikes wages to hold back workers

07 Jun '08

2 min read

The Gujarat textile industry is going through rough phase as the mill owners have to strike a balance between increased prices of raw materials and reducing profit margins. The skyrocketing oil rates have hit all the industries hard, the prices of dyes and chemicals have increased by more than 25 percent in the past few months.

In an exclusive interview with Fibre2fashion, Mr Vipul Desai, Secretary, South Gujarat Textile Processors Association asserted, “The textile units of Surat have decided to increase the labour cost as most of the workers are from Orissa where replication of Rozgar Gurantee Yojna has begun. In order to hold the skilled workers back, this step has been taken.

“Due to huge industrial development in Orissa, even the unskilled workers are paid well, so the shift of labourers to their hometown is natural. This is an alarming situation for Surat as there are around 390 units in and around Surat. The textile industry of Ahmedabad will not face shortage of labourers as there are very few workers from other states working in the city.”

While talking about the manufacturing cost, Mr Vipul divulged, “We are working for automization as manufacturing cost has risen to 35 percent due to labour shortage, dyes, chemicals, auxiliaries, fuel and energy.”

For the time being, the members of Association have decided to increase prices by mere five percent, but if the fuel prices go up further, they may consider for another hike in July or August.

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