In Delhi and Haryana, garment firms are hanging by a thread

In Delhi and Haryana, small businesses and daily wagers in the garments sector have been severely impacted by the pandemic even as large businesses and export firms have managed to stay afloat. Ashok Kumar reports on their struggle for survival amid frequent restrictions and low consumer confidence

Rahul Vashisht is becoming increasingly despondent. In March last year, before the second wave of COVID-19 hit India like a tsunami, he had quit as general manager of a garments firm in Haryana’s Gurugram to set up his own digital printing unit in Delhi’s Ghitorni. The firm, Vamika Art Canvas, specialises in reproducing digital images on cloth. Digital print on fabrics used to be popular in pre-COVID-19 times. But low demand in the domestic market due to frequent COVID-19-induced restrictions forced the young engineer to massively scale down operations within a few months of starting the enterprise. “We did not have a print order for even a metre of fabric this December. If it continues like this for another few months, I will have to either cut the salaries of the staff to half or hire them on commission basis,” he says quietly.

This is the story of not just Rahul but several others who The Hindu spoke to in the garments sector of Haryana and Delhi, which has suffered a massive shock because of COVID-19. Demand has plummeted and consumer confidence remains low. There have been supply-side bottlenecks every once in a while. As a consequence, small businesses are struggling to, or have simply been unable to, keep up with big businesses with deep pockets. To make matters worse, the government, despite its celebrated ‘Make in India’ campaign, has lent little support, allege entrepreneurs. The industry has faced one of its most severe crisis in recent times. Though the overall economy is recovering, small entrepreneurs say their woes continue.