Textile and apparel manufacturers in south Indian textile town of Tirupur would observe a day-long strike on October 3, 2012 to protest long power outages that often extend to more than 14 hours a day.
The decision to protest was taken at a meeting attended by representatives of 12 textile associations and some trade unions, including the Tirupur Manufacturers Association and Tirupur Export Knit Manufacturers Association.
The extended power cuts have brought production down to almost 40 percent in more than 10,000 industrial units, including textile and knitwear, spread across Tirupur, according to the Tamil Nadu Exporter and Manufacturers Association.
The South India Hosiery Manufacturers Association said the power cuts affect the functioning of machines, as most of them are high-end digitally controlled ones. As a result of power outages, the textile industries have to incur huge costs to change the spare parts, it added.
The association urged the government to immediately begin generating power from the Kundankulam nuclear power plant, so as to avoid extended power cuts.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India
