Karnataka authorities enable garment manufacturers to operate at half-capacity

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Apr 29, 2021

The Karnataka government has relaxed its lockdown restrictions for garment manufacturers and allowed them to operate at half-capacity due to the importance of the industry to the state’s economy.

The local government had previously only allowed ‘essential’ industries including construction and agriculture to operate during the 14-day lockdown which began on Tuesday night. However, due to the importance of the garment industry in the state, an industry which employs around eight lakh people in Bengaluru, the authorities have allowed limited activity, ET Bureau reported. 
 
Garment production units had urged the government to allow them to continue to operate as they have export commitments, which they have to meet on time or face penalties. A failure to finish orders on time could also lead India to loose orders to rival garment manufacturing nations such as Bangladesh, they argued. 

As many of Bengaluru’s garment production plants are located on the outskirts of the city, there remains the issue of how workers will travel to their jobs without the public transport on which they usually rely. To address this, some clothing factory owners are trying to arrange private transport for workers
 
“We will try to manage with people who live in the vicinity of our factories and have private transport,” garment business Gokaldas Exports managing director Sivaramakrishnan Ganapathi told the Economic Times.