Dyeing units finally decide to hike rates

Shivani Bhakoo

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, April 23

With no other option left to combat the increasing rates of raw material, the dyeing association here has decided to increase their rates by Rs5-6 per kilogram from May onwards.

This means, the dyeing of yarn, cloth etc. will be expensive. This has worried the garment industry as well.

The dyeing owners had a detailed discussion on the issue and all pros and cons were weighed by the participants. Ultimately, it was decided to increase the dyeing rates.

President of the Ludhiana Dyeing Association Ashok Makkar said many colours were not readily available. Secondly, due to monopoly, the rates of colours have increased manifold. Earlier, the dyeing industry was able to get colours from overseas, but now, they are totally dependent on the Indian market. “The golden yellow colour which was available for Rs500 per kg, was now available for Rs1,400 per kg. The blue colour, which was available for Rs1,200 was now being sold at Rs2,700 per kg. In this scenario, how can we sustain? We need to increase the dyeing rates to survive,” Makkar said.

Another dyeing unit owner Ankur Khanna said it was not just the rates of colours that had witnessed an increased, but labour, too, was demanding more wages. “We used to give them Rs10,000 a month. Now, their wages have increased to Rs16,000 a month. They are even ready to quit. The rates of pet-coke have increased. This will of course have an impact on the entire garment industry, but we cannot help it,” said Khanna.

Meanwhile, garment manufacturers, who feel that dyeing rates were already on a higher side, said the increase would put an additional burden.

“We are not going to get small amount of thread or cloth dyed, these are in bulk quantities. We will have to shell out quite a bit if rates are increased from May 1. But ultimately the prices are to be paid by the consumer. Obviously, no businessman will spend from his own pocket,” said Mehul Jain, a garment manufacturer in Sunder Nagar area.

Garment industry to shell out more

• Dyeing units to increase rates from May 1, 2019 by Rs 5-6 per kg 
• Increase in rates of colours is the main reason for hike
• Labour has started demanding more wages in dyeing units
• Rates of other raw material will also be increased
• Garment industry to shell out more money on dyeing

Industry having a tough time 

• Local dyeing industry is having a tough time as the prices of dyes and chemicals have been increased by almost 30 per cent. The input cost is increasing, while customers are not ready to pay the hiked cost accordingly. 
• Prices have seen an upward increase after many units in China were shut down due to pollution norms. The pollution caused by the manufacturing process was the main reason that led to the shutdown of units. Ludhiana was importing dyes and chemicals from China, as they were tested and the shutdown of units has caused shortage in the market. 
• Local manufacturers of dyes and chemicals seeing the shortage in the market have also increased their prices. Now, the Industry is dependent largely on Indian market alone. Owing to monopoly, dyers here have increased the rates of dyes and chemicals.