Vibrant spinning industry in Tamil Nadu confident of growth

A recent visit to Coimbatore was an exhilarating experience. Not only are the spinners of the region talking of growth, but the determination to move up the value chain and look inward to strengthen operations and save on wastages is palpable. Many sustainable efforts have been put in place including LED bulbs and "Energy Management systems" and other nergy saving mechanisms like solutions to plug compressed air, a major source of energy in spinning mills. While the textile industry in other parts of the country continue to fret over mandatory implementation of Zero Liquid Discharge (eZLD), the processing units in Tamil Nadu have already converted to ZLD and are running the Effluent Treatment Plants (ETPs) successfully.
The spinning industry in Tamil Nadu (TN) has seen definite improvements, as compared to the previous years both in terms of utilization and also from the sales point of view. Yet, because of excess supply situation across the country, mostly due to new capacities in India and slowdown in exports, the spinning industry across the country is facing pressure in margins. To its credit, the spinning industry in Tamil Nadu with highest productivity, quality and value addition, has not only been able to face these challenges, but is also slowly regaining lost strengths at all fronts including better working capital management. Debt levels are also reducing in a structured manner and many standalone spinning mills are attempting to move up the value chain, at least to the next stage of manufacturing. "Few standalone spinning mills already started the units in airjet weaving and garments manufacturing as a strategic move towards moving up the value chain. The confidence level is better now and spinning sector in TN is moving in the right direction," says Prabhu Dhamodharan, Secretary, Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF), Coimbatore, India.