Tiruppur Exporters Association (TEA) president Raja A. Shanmugham on April 3 said that the industry which is often referred to as the hosiery capital of South India and the Manchester of South is facing an acute crisis.
He said that the heavy increase in raw cotton prices had already affected the business and now the Russia-Ukraine war has taken the business to a new low.
Shanmugham, who is himself exporting to Europe, said that the market was slowly recovering from the Covid-19 crisis and they hope that the war will be over and prices of raw cotton will come down so that the industry gets back to normal providing employment to 6 lakh labourers and earning huge foreign exchange for the country.
The industry has projected revenue of Rs 33,000 crore from the export business and Rs 32,000 crore from the domestic market with a total market cap of Rs 65,000 crore. He said that unless the government supports the exporting units and strictly monitors the raw cotton pricing, the industry will face the heat even after the war between Ukraine and Russia ends. IANS