The power loom sector in Bhiwandi, Maharashtra, bleeds from demonetisation and GST.
If India inc has been reporting losses and its head honchos have been speaking out against Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the after-effects of demonetisation, it does not take much to imagine the situation of small businesses. Backed by financial and technical resources, big businesses have managed to roll with the punches and are likely to land on their feet, but small businesses have had to deal first with the sudden shock of demonetisation and then the red tape of the world of GST. In Maharashtra, the plight of Bhiwandi encapsulates what demonetisation and GST have done to small businesses.
At the best of times, Bhiwandi, the power loom capital of Maharashtra, is quite a depressing town, with the incessant clang and shriek of machinery and the pall of dust that covers everything. But, in a twisted sort of way, these were signs that all was well in Bhiwandi.
The town has about nine lakh of India’s 21 lakh power looms crammed into airless galas (workshops), all built cheek by jowl on 38 square kilometres. The town provides various forms of employment to most of the taluk and to thousands of migrant workers, mainly from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
This story is from the November 24, 2017 edition of FRONTLINE.
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This story is from the November 24, 2017 edition of FRONTLINE.
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