Many Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Coimbatore resumed production on Monday after several weeks of lockdown.
Owners of industrial units had to ensure that the machinery was fit to operate. “Since the Vertical Milling Centre had not been used for more than a month, I requested the [manufacturing] company to send their service personnel over, and they are having a look at the machinery now,” said Arul Das, a small entrepreneur in KNG Pudur. He supplies components to the Railways and takes up machinery service for different sectors.
Mr. Das employs eight workers. But on Monday, only four turned up for work. “We have asked them to bring hot water and lunch. We have decided to give them only biscuits in-between,” he said.
Around 90% of the MSMEs in Coimbatore Corporation limits resumed operations on Monday. Most of them saw only a few labourers reporting to work. “For full-fledged operations to resume, all workers and unit owners should return,” said C. Sivakumar, president of Coimbatore and Tirupur Districts Tiny and Micro Enterprises’ Association.
J. James, president of Tamil Nadu Association of Cottage and Tiny Enterprises, said, “It is just the beginning. Some large-scale companies have cancelled the orders they had placed a month ago. We will know how the situation has evolved in a week or 10 days.”
According to data available with the District Industries Centre, 5,728 applications had been submitted for special permission to operate during the lockdown period, of which 3,680 had been approved.
More than 50,000 MSMEs are located in the Coimbatore Corporation limits. “Industries have limited raw material. The MSMEs need funds to continue operations non-stop. The units saw 30%-50% operations on Monday,” said R. Ramamurthy, president of Coimbatore District Small Industries’ Association.
