Textile business in the country has been impacted by the demonetisation of high value currency notes, with November sales down by almost 50 per cent compared to that of October, said a top executive of Bombay Dyeing.
It has had a “big impact... got hurt,” The Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Co. Ltd CEO Nagesh Rajanna said, pointing out that signs of business bouncing back were already visible. He was addressing the media here on Monday.
Hoping the textile business would bounce back over the next three months, a period that usually witnesses more sales on account of New Year and Sankranti, Mr. Rajanna said sales in November were 50 per cent lesser than that of the previous month’s figures.
The third quarter of the current fiscal came under pressure. “Wait and watch how Q4 will shape up,” he said. Customers were switching to cashless mode of payments. The showrooms were gradually installing PoS machines for facilitating use of credit/debit cards post the November 8 decision of the government to demonetise old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 currency notes.
On the impact for Bombay Dyeing specifically, Mr. Rajanna said the use of cards for payments was high, up to 60 per cent of the total transactions, in case of exclusive outlets. This, however, was not the case at multi-brand showrooms, which account for a chunk of the sales.
Silver lining
One of the benefits of demonetisation for the domestic textile industry was bringing Chinese imports under pressure. It made the imports expensive, he said, explaining that much of these transactions were taking place illegally and could not be conducted the same way any more.
