The textile industry, which is thought to be the main engine of Erode’s primarily rural economy, has suffered as a result of financial constraints brought on by the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in the Erode (East) assembly seat.
Sales in the EKM Abdul Gani Textile Market, also known as Gani Market, have plummeted since the announcement of the polls. Traders from other states, who typically deal in bulk, have stayed away due to fears of cash seizures by election authorities. Normally, the Pongal season accounts for up to 70 per cent of the market’s annual sales, but this year, it barely reached 50 per cent, said K Selvaraj, president of the Erode Gani Market Weekly All Textile Merchants Association.
To help small traders, traders sought the ban on carrying cash over Rs 50,000 (US $ 577) to be loosened to almost Rs 2 lakh (US $ 2300).
In addition to the stores in the market, hundreds more textile stores on Ashokapuram and Eswaran Kovil Street are struggling due to a lack of business.
Establishing a Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) is another long-standing, significant demand of the textile industry with the State Government. This is because textile products made in Erode are shipped to distant locations like Surat and Ahmedabad for dyeing, which raises the cost of production overall.
