“My only skill is weaving, and with the abrupt shutdown of power looms over the past fortnight, I am struggling financially,” says B. Srinivas, a 35-year-old power loom worker who lives in Indiramma Colony, abutting the Sircilla Textile Park in Telangana’s Rajanna Sircilla district. “My mother took to beedi-rolling to supplement the family income, but the strenuous work fetches meagre wages and is hardly a viable source of livelihood,” he adds.
His five-member family, including mother, wife, and two children, lead a hand-to-mouth existence during the lean season, he rues. “I get anywhere between ₹12,000 and ₹15,000 as a monthly wage during the peak season and endure financial difficulties during the lean season extending to almost six months,” he says.
Also read: Polyester cloth production comes to near standstill in Sircilla as crisis looms
Nearly 1,000 power loom workers of the textile park, located 8 kilometres from Sircilla town, are staring at a bleak future as are the 9,000-odd workers employed directly and indirectly in more than 25,530 power looms in the town.
The crisis is multi-factorial. The primary catalyst is the nationwide downturn in the demand for fabric, affecting both domestic consumption and export markets. Apart from government orders, the cloth produced in Sircilla mainly goes to the Pathergatti market in Hyderabad, about 130 km away. “We used to sell polyester fabric worth around ₹300 to ₹350 crore per annum until the slowdown brought the sales to a near standstill,” says a local power loom unit owner, unwilling to be named.
The rise in production costs has compounded the industry’s woes, making it increasingly difficult for manufacturers to maintain competitiveness. This surge in costs, attributed to various factors such as increased raw material prices, labour expenses, and energy costs, has eroded profit margins. As a result, several textile units in Sircilla find themselves at a crossroads, struggling to balance sustainability and profitability. It used to cost ₹7 to make a metre of polyester fabric three years ago; now it costs around ₹8.70, the power loom owner contends.
A “defunct” power loom unit is being used as a “godown” at the Textile Park near the textile town of Sircilla. | Photo Credit: P. Sridhar
Another indicator of the industry’s distress is the mounting stockpile of unsold polyester cloth. This surplus has left many manufacturers grappling with the challenge of managing excess inventory. Industry sources believe that polyester cloth worth over ₹100 crore is lying unsold with the power loom units in Sircilla and the textile park together.
Pending bills of bulk orders
Industry sources say bills worth over ₹200 crore related to Bathukamma saris and Rajiv Vidya Mission (RVM) school uniform cloth production have been pending with the government for over three months.
The previous State government, led by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), used to place bulk orders for production of thread-bordered polyester filament yarn saris meant for free distribution among women during the State’s popular floral festival, Bathukamma, every year. The erstwhile BRS government placed the orders with the mutually aided cooperative societies (MACS) of weavers/ small scale industries (SSI) units in Sircilla for production of Bathukamma saris, RVM uniform clothes, KCR kits, Anganwadi saris, Ramzan and Christmas gift packs in the past eight years.
Since 2016, around 58.56 crore metres of cloth worth ₹2,758 crore have been produced by the power loom industry in Sircilla. Nearly 6.22 crore metres of cloth was made in Sircilla for Bathukamma saris in 2023, official sources said.
Anxious power loom owners and master weavers are now pinning their hopes on the new Congress government in Telangana for clearance of the pending bills and placing of fresh orders for Bathukamma saris at the earliest.
Hari Prasad, a handloom weaver, works at his handloom unit in the textile town of Sircilla. | Photo Credit: P. Sridhar
Sircilla MLA and former Handlooms and Textiles Minister in the erstwhile BRS government, K.T. Rama Rao took a keen initiative and provided bulk orders under the Bathukamma sari scheme for the mutually aided cooperative societies of weavers and the small scale industries (SSIs), a power loom weaver of B.Y. Nagar in Sircilla says WHO, seeking anonymity.
“Government initiatives to modernise the looms, upgrade the skills of workers and help weavers grow into entrepreneurs failed to take off on expected lines in 10 years of BRS rule,” he adds.
Last week, Rama Rao, who represents Sircilla Assembly constituency, made an appeal to the Congress government through a post on social media platform ‘X’ to continue the previous BRS government’s interventions in order to prevent the textile industry in Sircilla from slipping into a deep crisis.
Near-total dependence on government orders and a drastic decline in private orders has exacerbated the situation, forcing several power loom owners to halt production over the last fortnight to avoid losses.
An overwhelming number of power loom units are yet to resume full-fledged production, notwithstanding announcements by the associations representing the power loom owners in the textile park and the textile hub of Sircilla regarding resumption of production.
Sircilla reeled under a wave of suicides by weavers during the late 1990s and early 2000s due to deep crisis in the power loom sector. In 2003, the textile park was set up on a sprawling 65-acre land parcel at Baddenapally near Sircilla in the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh to boost textile sector and promote entrepreneurship among the weavers’ community.
The textile park functioned with around 119 units of rapier looms for a couple of years. Over the past few years, the number of units has come down to around 60. Further, the Power Looms Service Centre, Product Display Centre and various other facilities have become defunct.
Several non-operational units have turned into godowns on the premises of the textile park. Some of the owners of the “loss-making” units allegedly sold the looms and let out the premises of their defunct units as godowns in violation of norms.
Skilled weavers sit idle
Sircilla is endowed with gifted handloom weavers, including one who brought laurels to the textile town by weaving saris that can fit into matchboxes. The weaving prowess of Sircilla-based handloom weaver V. Hari Prasad, who wove the G20 logo on a 24x12 inch cloth last year, drew praise from handloom connoisseurs.
“The rich handloom craft is facing the risk of fading away. The number of handloom weavers is fast dwindling. Sircilla is now home to just a little over 100 handloom weavers,” says another weaver, requesting anonymity.
The local power loom owners are finding it difficult to sell the polyester fabric at Pathergatti wholesale market in Hyderabad as the city-based merchants are procuring grey cloth from Malegaon and other textile towns in Maharashtra due to its low price, industry sources explain. The polyester fabric from Malegaon is priced at ₹8 per metre, which is about ₹1 less than the fabric produced in Sircilla, sources added.
“We had to halt production for four days last week due to lack of fresh orders and piling up of unsold fabric stock,” Sircilla Cloth Manufacturers Welfare Association president M. Satyam says.
Road to redemption
The power looms in Sircilla have resumed work in view of fresh orders from the government for production of 20 lakh metres of Rajiv Vidya Mission (RVM) school uniform cloth, Satyam says, urging the State government to clear the pending bills of Bathukamma saris as well as to place a fresh indent for making Bathukamma and Ramzan gift saris. Continuation of 50% power subsidy to the SSI power loom units is essential to avert the crisis, he insists.
Assured work throughout the year and upgrade of power looms, skills, and product range hold the key to staving off the crisis in the Sircilla power loom industry, says CITU district secretary K. Ramana. “The owners of power loom units at the textile park are providing work to workers only when the government places orders, and then abruptly halting production in the name of a crisis, leaving the workers in the lurch,” he alleges. The lull period this year is marked by a sense of ambiguity among a section of the power loom owners over the prospects of fresh government orders.
He says the new government should give orders to only those who operate the units in a full-fledged manner to ensure regular work to the power loom workers.
Asked about the situation, Regional Director, Handlooms and Textiles department, V. Ashok Rao says the government has placed fresh indent for production of 60 lakh metres of RVM school uniform cloth with the power loom units in the textile park and in Sircilla town (40 lakh metres plus 20 lakh metres, respectively). More than 50% of the total powerloom units in Sircilla, including those at the textile park, have resumed production, he asserts.
What is the process for clearance of pending bills and fresh orders for production of Bathukamma saris in Sircilla? An official of the Handlooms and Textiles Department says, “It is a policy decision to be taken by the new government in Telangana.”
