Coimbatore micro industries start getting 50% capacity job orders: Enquiries from North India give hope

Coimbatore: Micro industries across the district have started to witness job orders that fill 50% of their capacity. This is deemed to be an interim relief to the industrialists who were reeling under the COVID crisis. Enquiries from northern parts of India for components made from non-ferrous special materials have also given some hope.

Micro industries play a vital role in the overall industry growth. There are more than 20,000 micro industry-based businesses across the district. Since there are no public sector undertakings (PSU) in the district, most of the industries survive by getting job orders from big industrial players.

COVID-19 virus outbreak followed by the lockdown initially pushed the entire sector to an unmitigated crisis, but the relaxations announced by the state government and the loan schemes implemented by the central government have helped many industrialists in weathering the crisis. Especially, arrival of steady job orders have provided much-needed relief to the industrialists.

President of Coimbatore Tirupur Districts Micro and Cottage Entrepreneurs Association (COTMA)C. Siva Kumar said "Initially all the micro industries were feeling the impact. Now, as the government has announced some relaxations for the industrial sector, we see some positive changes. The loan schemes announced by the central government help the industries a lot too."

He said even though demand has reduced at big companies at present, the situation is not as grim. Micro industries are getting around 50% capacity filled with job orders. Also, both the micro and big industries have started getting more enquiries from North India for components made from non-ferrous special material. Though they are not sure how many of these enquiries will be finalised, this has given the industrialists a ray of hope at this point of time.

He also added, "Government loan schemes do help industrialists, but the issue of banks demanding documents from tiny and micro industrialists is concerning. Due to this, many entrepreneurs are forced to avail loans from private financiers at a very high rate of interest. Considering their difficulty, we have started requesting banks, on behalf our association, to provide loans to the tiny and micro industries based on their business transactions."

The district president of Tamil Nadu Association of Cottage and Micro Enterprises (TACT) J. James said "'Covid-19' pandemic has created a huge impact in the micro industrial sector. While all the industrialists are reeling under a severe financial crunch, the state government’s demands of payment of electricity bills is not fair. Considering the importance of the micro sector, Tamil Nadu government should bear 50% of our electricity charges. It should also consider providing 'Covid-19' relief fund of Rs 1 lakh to each and every micro industrialist across the district."

He added that the ban on public transport due to the steep increase in 'Covid-19' infections has caused a dearth of workers because of which the micro industrialists, who have started receiving job orders, are not able to start their production.

He said that the government should provide staunch support to the micro industries sector for at least one year. He added, "If not, many micro industrialists will vanish from the sector which is not good for the overall industrial growth of the state."