Knitwear garment exporters in Tirupur have sought extension of moratorium on term loan instalments and working capital facilities till the close of the current fiscal and extension of liquidity support to all MSMEs without a cap on credit exposure.

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA) President Raja M Shanmugham pointed out that the sector had just started to inch back, but the situation was not congenial as there was no significant improvement in garment purchase in the US and UK markets.

Knitwear exports (all India) at the end of the first quarter of the current fiscal slipped over 60 per cent to Rs 5355 crore compared to Rs 13570 crore achieved during the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

The demand pick up has been close and units are struggling to make ends meet, notwithstanding the statutory monthly commitments.

“Extension of lockdown and continuing disruption on account of the pandemic is impacting our operations. Most units are unable to achieve 50 per cent capacity utilisation. Under such circumstances, extension of moratorium on term loan instalment by another seven months (from September 1) till end-March 2021 would not only benefit the industry and banks , but usher a good-feel factor across the board,” the TEA president said and added that the Government should at this juncture, extend the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) to all MSMEs, including those with credit exposure of Rs 25 crore-plus.

Implementation of such financial measures would bring back the growth momentum, he said

Published On : 01-08-2020

Source : Business Line