Mr Modi, don’t impose lockdown without informing first

International flights have once again been suspended indefinitely due to fear of the Omicron variant of Covid19. Otherwise, these flights were about to resume from December 15. On the other hand, the traders community have doubts as to what will happen if the new variant spreads in the country. Traders want Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to impose lockdown. Also people should work together in an organized manner. Whatever step the government takes, let the people know about it first. It should not happen again as the PM had done the first time and suddenly imposed the nationwide lockdown. At present, mistrust is prevailing in the market and people are not lending. Many people died during the second wave, leaving the money of suppliers and buyers stuck.
Vikas Singh Chauhan, Director, Home Textile Exporters Welfare Association (HEWA), says that those who could not shift to e-marketing or online systems during the pandemic, suffered badly. But the entrepreneurs who adopted the digital methods and brought their business to online mode, are moving ahead. Instead of physical meetings, Zoom meetings are being held now. The foreign buyers used to come here to understand everything, before making the deal. Now they ask to show the sample on the phone itself. Video calls are proving to be effective. Earlier the buyer’s agent used to come here, which increased the cost up to 5%, now this is not the case. Things are moving fast and business has grown. Looking at the results of the last two quarters, you will see that the textile sector has achieved up to 40% growth. There are high expectations from exports. It looks like India will touch the target of $ 400 billion this time. Why is this happening, because people are turning towards India.
Industries suffered a lot in the first lockdown. The situation worsened by the exodus of laborers. The lockdown created an imbalance in the demand and supply of raw materials. The ghost of exodus is still haunting the textile sector. As a result the price of raw materials like cotton and yarn has gone up by 70%. Exporters were hit not only by raw material cost, but also by shipping costs rising by five to ten times. During the first and second waves, cargo remained stuck, transport came to a standstill, increasing the cost of shipping. There are many fears if the new variant spreads.
There are many big events planned for the next year, such as Heimtextil and Domotic. Large export orders in the textile sector come from these fairs. Exporters still do not know what will happen to these fairs. The exporters have already paid huge amounts for these exhibitions and many have also sent their samples. Buyers have also started insisting on immediate delivery. There is an atmosphere of confusion and fear in the market. Buyers are hesitant to enter into bigger and long-time contracts. In such a situation, if there is an increase in GST, then the textile industry will be especially adversely affected. In such a situation, it would be really good if all the councils come together and help small weavers, designers and MSMEs to go digital.