Noida's textile exporters loose business to overseas manufacturers

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
May 25, 2021

Textile export businesses in Noida and Greater Noida have reported loosing orders to competitor countries including Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Bangladesh, as the pandemic continues to disrupt the industry.

Textile and garment manufacturers are continuing to loose internationally-placed orders and Noida-based businesses have lost “over 20%,” of orders to foreign competitors, the Noida Apparel Export Cluster said in a statement, TNN reported. 
 
“Most migrant workers left the city during the panchayat polls, while some left during Eid,” said NAEC president Lalit Thukral, TNN reported.

“Now there are more Covid cases in the villages and people want to return. But worker capacity in most factories has gone down to 40-50%. While no one has stopped work, things have slowed down.”
 
As international buyers are diverting their orders to other countries, the NAEC has asked for assistance in bringing workers back to the factories and boosting business to reverse this trend. Export businesses will not be able to sustain themselves without international orders, according to the NAEC, and business needs to get back on track soon to avoid long-term damage, it said. 
 
The NAEC has taken measures to enable workers to return to factories and to encourage them to do so.

“For our workers, there are isolation wards and oxygen beds at factories,” said Thukral. “We have also created a facility for Covid-affected workers to borrow concentrators and return them after use. we urge the government to make vaccines available for workers, which would give them the confidence to rejoin.”