Textile Traders Seek Longer Working Hours Permit From State Govt As They Deal With Rising Orders From Across The Country

Textile traders in Surat and Ahmedabad are demanding the Gujarat state government for permission to work for longer hours as they claim to be receiving orders from several parts of the country.

The present order of the state administration allows commercial establishments barring essential services to operate only from 9 am-3 pm.

However, Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s (GCCI) trade committee chairman Gaurang Bharat expressed to the Financial Express that activities in over 100 and 300 textile markets in Ahmedabad and Surat respectively begin only post 11 am usually.

Hence, the current restrictions prevent them from rounding up work related to banks, dispatching goods, and completing other formalities by 3 pm. Hence, they are seeking clearance for textile markets to work from 11 am-7 pm in order to go about their business appropriately.

“Since past fortnight, traders have been getting orders of grey fabric, especially denim, from exporters based in Mumbai and Noida. If the government would allow them to work for longer hours, traders can fulfill orders in time by following all the Covid-related protocols issued by the authority,” Bharat was quoted as saying in a report by the Financial Express.

Reportedly, textile traders based in Gujarat incurred massive losses worth Rs 10,000 crore as the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic struck the country during the April-May period, which coincided with the otherwise business-friendly wedding season and the Ugadi and Ramzan festivities.