The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Dollar fall, inflation add to weavers’ woes

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Wednesday, Jun 25, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Dollar fall, inflation add to weavers’ woes

A.D. Rangarajan

TIRUPATI: Dollar crash, coupled with inflation, has broken the spine of the weaving community of Nagari, considered the textile hub of southern Andhra Pradesh.

Situated on the Tamil Nadu border, Nagari has over 5,000 families running 10,000 power looms, considered the lifeline of the region.

While their fraternity in neighbouring Tamil Nadu produces lungies for export to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Singapore, Nagari weavers produce export quality shirting material. The hub produces four lakh metres of cloth per month, of which 2.5 lakh metres are meant for export. In fact, Nagari is the preferred destination after Salem-Erode belt in Tamil Nadu for Chennai-based exporters, netting Rs.20-25 crore per annum. While master weavers manage to secure export orders from Chennai, procure and dye the yarn, it is the weavers who sit at the loom and make the end-product. Weavers of this belt comprising Satravada, KVPR Pet, Chintalapatteda, Ekambarakuppam and Pudupet villages hail from the Senguntha Mudaliar community and are traditionally engaged in weaving for generations.

The slump witnessed in the United States and the subsequent weakening of the dollar has made the master weavers return home without orders since January. Further, the excessive competition at the selling point (Chennai) has led to unprecedented erosion in their profit margin.

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