The Tamil Nadu government will procure one of the raw materials for the match industry through Tamil Nadu Small Industries Development Corporation Limited (TANSIDCO) from Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL) to help it tide over the challenge of the increasing raw material cost, Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises T.M. Anbarasan informed the Assembly on Tuesday.
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Replying to a special call attention motion moved by some MLAs, Mr. Anbarasan said the prices of duplex boards were expected to fall with the lifting of the ban imposed by the European Union on one of the raw materials since April 1. “The government would consult the Chief Minister and take steps to ensure the availability of potassium chloride, since it would be supplied from Jordan, besides from Russia and Belarus,” he said.
Earlier, DMK MLA A.R.R. Seenivasan (Virudhunagar), the AIADMK’s Kadambur C. Raju (Kovilpatti), the Congress’s A.M.S.G. Ashokan (Sivakasi), the CPI(M)‘s V.P. Nagaimaali (Kilvelur), the PMK’s G.K. Mani (Pennagaram) and the VCK’s S.S. Balaji (Tiruporur) listed the challenges facing the industry.
Mr. Raju said the raw material prices had risen, posing a threat to the industry. Mr. Ashokan said the import of plastic disposable lighters from China, which were available for ₹5 each and allowed by the Union government, too posed a threat to the industry. Mr. Balaji said about 90% of the match industry workers were women, and the threat to the industry would affect women the most.