Ballari’s jeans industry back on track

BALLARI: Jeans manufacturing units in Ballai, the hub of the sector in the state, is slowly getting back on track with orders flowing from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Sales, which had crashed during the lockdown, are now back to 50% of what it used to be priory to the pandemic.
There are over 600 manufacturing units in the district and with most back in business, thousands of workers, who took other temporary jobs, are now returning to the industry.Manufacturers hope business will be back to pre-Covid days by January.
S Bhanuprasad, owner, Pointblank, said sales began picking up from the second week of September, but is still low considering people are more focused on food and shelter.
“We were completely down for six months so we are relatively better off now,” he said. “People are buying products ahead of Dasara and Diwali. However, payments from retailers are still slow. Currently Mumbai and Salem cities are our big buyers and we ship by road. Overseas exports are problematic as flight services have not resumed.”
Praveen Bafana, president, Bengaluru Appartel Manufacturers Association, said “50% is the new normal”. “We sell primarily to retailers, who are showing decent sales. We have to wait for results. Labour though is not a problem since we employ mostly locals.”
Narasimha, Ramanna, Shivamurthy and other labourers in Cowl Bazar in Ballari, said they had taken up other jobs during the lockdown. “Now, jeans manufacturers are offering jobs,” they added.
Over 70,000 families in Ballari, Chitradurga and Adoni district of AP rely on the industry which comprises mostly small and medium manufacturers.