(RE)STARTING TROUBLE

The government plan to stagger the reopening of businesses was well-intentioned, but complicated guidelines, supply chain disruptions and poor demand have played spoilsport

- M.G. Arun

170

The number of districts across India classified as ‘hotspots’, or ‘red’ districts. The other classifications are ‘non-hotspots’ or ‘orange’ districts and ‘non-infected’ or ‘green’ districts

Dharmesh Kachiwala, 48, who runs a textile processing unit in Surat, is distraught as the national lockdown nears the one-month mark. Although the new guidelines from the Centre, announced on April 15, allow industrial units outside the COVID-19 ‘hotspots’ in Gujarat (such as in textile hub Surat) to resume operations from April 20, entrepreneurs like him aren’t taking any chances. “Surat’s textile trading market is closed, so where will we sell our products, even if we make them?” he asks. His firm, J.P. Kachiwala Textiles, supplies processed cloth to garment makers, who in turn export finished garments to larger firms such as British retailer Marks & Spencer. But even those businesses are now shut. “Once you start your plant, you have to keep operations going 24x7, else it becomes an expensive proposition,” he says. Having to pay salaries to 250 employees without any income is another burden.