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99% industrial units remain closed in Ludhiana
Though some of Ludhiana’s over 95,000 units were expected to resume functioning, the district administration, in a late evening decision, rescinded an earlier order permitting relaxations.
Even as 700 odd units in the state’s financial capital, Ludhiana, continue to function amid a month-long curfew in Punjab, no other industrial unit opened here on Monday.
The Ludhiana deputy commissioner on Monday announced that industrial units in rural areas and designated industrial areas keen to start operations could submit their applications online with the general manager District Industries Centre (GMDIC).
The GMDIC will oversee whether guidelines and labour quarantine norms are being followed at the units and then these can be allowed to operate.
The guidelines say that the owners should make arrangements for labourers to be given accommodation at the units.
About 99% of Ludhiana’s industry, known for manufacturing bicycles, bicycle parts, sewing machines and hosiery, will remain closed until at least May 3.
TEXTILE INDUSTRY MAKING PPE
The silver lining in a grim situation, however, has been some enterprising innovations. A section of Ludhiana’s famed textile industry has diversified to making personal protective equipment (PPE) in bulk. Currently,15 textile firms located in the city have been accorded approval by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to make personal protective equipment (PPEs). District Industry Centre (DIC) general manager Mahesh Khanna told Hindustan Times on Monday that PPE samples from 37 more firms had been forwarded for government approval. “It seems the entire textile industry is keen to manufacture them”, he said.
Permission had been accorded for manufacture of essential commodities, including bread, biscuits, packaging, pharmaceuticals and PPEs on a daily basis. There are currently 600 units for manufacturing essential commodities and around 100 units for some non-essential commodities that had been given permission earlier to function.
Ludhiana is home to about 95,000 micro, small and medium industrial units (SMEs) and about 250 large scale units.
BICYCLE UNITS UNABLE TO RESUME WORK
Ludhiana’s bicycle industry, which forms 80% of India’s bicycle manufacturing and home to giants such as Hero and Avon among others, remained closed as industrialists expressed their inability to start work because of the strict guidelines imposed by the administration.
They also said sustaining would be difficult in the absence of demand in these times. “Where are the shops (retailers) to sell bicycles? What will we do even if we start manufacturing cycles?” asked SS Bhogal, managing partner of Bhogal Sales Corporation, a major bicycle manufacturer in the city.
Bhogal also said strict safety guidelines imposed by the administration were not feasible. “There are practical problems. It is not possible to house over 100 labourers and also arrange for their medical facilities,” he said.
SK Rai, managing director of Hero Cycles, said there is no question of them re-opening their unit before May 3. “There are strict restrictions on transport. Re-opening in these times is just not feasible,” he said.
The president of United Cycle and Parts Manufacturers Association (UCPMA), DS Chawla felt it was not possible to function with conditions such as quarantining of the labour imposed by the administration. Likewise, the
president of the Chamber of Industrial and Commercial Undertakings (CICU), Upkar Ahuja, said nothing could be gained by opening a certain sector or industry amid a lockdown until the complete chain was permitted to operate. The industry would need raw material and a function market to sell products.
The district administration had allowed industrialists with permissions to run factories to operate their respective units.
However, Ludhiana deputy commissioner Pradeep Kumar Agrawal said that the decision to recall the order permitting relaxations was taken to keep the situation under control. The district has so far witnessed four Covid -19 deaths, including that of an assistant commissioner of police and a revenue department official. There are currently 15 Covid-19 cases in the district, the state’s largest in terms of both geographical and population (35 lakh) size.
