Hosiery manufacturers in Punjab's Ludhiana expect low sales this winter due to COVID-19 outbreak

The Hosiery manufacturers in Punjab's Ludhiana have said that they are expecting low sales and less profit this winter due to less demand and severe labour crunch due to COVID-19 outbreak.

Manufactures of hosiery garments said that it is more about survival than growth and that the consumers are not willing to spend much on clothes and fashionable garments.

"This year we are looking forward to 40 to 50 per cent revenue targets in comparison of last year as demand in the market is low and production is also very less due to severe labour crunch. It is more about survival this year than growth," said Akhil Sachdeva, Co-Founder of Pinnacle Fashion and Retail.

"Most of the malls are closed or are operating with limited opening hours, and high street fashion stores are experiencing very low footfall. We are expecting the market to remain weak and only gradually improve as the prevailing marketing sentiment gets better," Sachdeva added.

Chairman of the Ludhiana Wool Manufacturing Association Sanju Dhir said that the industry is facing severe labour crunch, as the number of workers has reduced from 300 to only 20-30 people at present.

"Corporate houses have still not made our payments. How can we go ahead with more production? The industry used to run non-stop during peak production days but nowadays, we are running units for six to eight hours. In the present scenario, it is difficult to say anything. Only essential items are purchased by people," Dhir said.

( With inputs from ANI )