Among hundreds of small scale units in Dharavi – Garment manufacturing units badly hit by Covid -19

Among 20,000 odd-small industries in Asia’s largest slum Dharavi, there are about 100-150 garment manufacturing small scale units which are paralysed due to no business following the COVID-19 outbreak.

Mumbai: As unlock 2.0 begins, workers from about 100-150 garment manufacturing units in Dharavi with an annual turnover of approximately Rs.100 crore are ready to resume production, but currently have to sit idle as there are no government orders to open the shutters. The garment manufacturers lament that the state government has no revival plan for them.

The owners of the garment manufacturing business units here remark that they have never seen such a big economic slump and have remained jobless for such a long period. The garment manufacturers having strength of about 100-150 units argue that business has been hit due to big operators from the textile industry with their holding capacity are not releasing jobs to them. To make matters worse the Maharashtra government has not come out with any financial package and the migrant workers fleeing from Mumbai has badly affected the labour industry of Dharavi.

Following the COVID-19 outbreak, Dharavi , the 500-acre urban sprawl  in the heart of the financial capital which has been a beehive of Mumbai’s small-scale manufacturers, today stands paralysed today largely due to the economic slowdown. It is Asia’s largest slum having about 20,000-odd-small business having annual turnover more than Rs.7,000 Crore.  Each house in Dharavi holds numerous labourers engaged into small scale business like leather, textile, pottery and many more.

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The small scale garment business has geared itself immediately after relaxation by the state government with standard operation procedure however the entrepreneurs are disappointed as they have not been receiving any new order from the other textile industry.

Samuthira Pandi, the owner of Sudar Garments in manufacturing of garment business in Dharavi from last 10-years and hailing from Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu explained that the business has completely shattered. Pandi said, “I am into manufacturing shirts for a big renowned brand, they are not releasing any job orders now. I was having about 50 workers and now I am left with 5 of them. I had turnover of about Rs 50 lakhs due to the pandemic crisis. I am jobless.”

Another owner, Gunasekar of KIP Garments said, “The migrant workers left to their cities now it is difficult to take even bigger orders. Also, the main factor remains unchanged that bigger industries have sustainability so they are not in a hurry and I end up paying rent for premises. The state government has not given any financial package for small scale industry.”

Earlier these small scale manufactures had workers in each unit of about 40-100 depending upon the bulk of order they received. Now it has hardly 4-7 workers, who are engaged for pending jobs before lockdown.