Surat’s textile industry has been hit by the Afghanistan unrest as, sources say, payments to over 100 traders have been delayed.
It’s worth noting here that textile products worth Rs 1,000-1,200 crore (US $ 145-155 million) were being annually shipped from textile hub Surat located in an Indian state Gujarat to other countries, including Iran and Afghanistan.
Particularly in the Afghan market, about 150 textile traders from different markets on the Ring Road of Surat had been sending textile goods annually.
The textile traders of the city shipped dress materials, shiny fabrics, soles and scarves in bulk to Chabahar via Iran and then to other Iranian ports and from there, it was sent by road to cities like Kabul, Kandahar and Ghazni.
Besides, another trade route to Afghanistan was through Bangladesh, Dhaka and Dubai.
However, as Taliban takes over Afghanistan and with reports of Taliban banning trade with India coming out, many companies in the country have shut their businesses down and left the country.
The textile traders in Surat have been directly impacted due to this chaos and they fear that they might lose their money worth over US $ 100 million.
The city’s textile industry has recently undergone a heavy blow due to GST and the coronavirus lockdown situations. Adding to the woes was the failure in consumer spending on festivals Onam, Akha teej that didn’t prove to be as successful as expected.
