Several Micro, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (MSMEs) here shut down operations voluntarily since Monday.
Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (Codissia) president MV Ramesh Babu said almost 90 % of its members had stopped production. Only those who were catering to healthcare sector continued to run the units.
A few organisations, including Codissia, had urged its members to stop production in an effort to control the spread of COVID-19.
At the SIDCO Industrial Estate at Kurichi, 20 % of the units continued to operate. They had export orders or were vendors to exporting units or were supplying to the healthcare sector.
Several units had no option but to stop production because they did not have stock of raw materials, said J. James, president of the Tamil Nadu Association of Cottage and Tiny Enterprises.
He also alleged that an official had visited a micro unit at Avarampalayam on Monday and threatened action if the unit continued to operate. Mr. James said the unit was a vendor to a large-scale industry and had permission to operate. When the lockdown was announced, the district administration had permitted micro units that were catering to exporting and essential sectors to continue operations. Now, they should either stop all units from operating or permit the vendors in the essential and exporting sectors to continue, he said.
