Until late January this year, the hosiery town of Tirupur had been in a state of euphoria. Within days, its glee turned into a grimace. In February, the US dollar depreciated against the Indian rupee. The rupee value of the dollar slipped south from Rs 46 to Rs 44 and then to Rs 42 in June and the Tamil Nadu town's euphoria evaporated. Ten months down the line, it is grappling with losses.

The performance of the 1,000-odd exporters in Tirupur, supported by 6,000 auxiliary units, including knitting units, dyeing and bleaching, fabric painting, garment-making and embroidery, had been impressive. From Rs 54 crore in 1984, exports had leapfrogged to Rs 11,200 crore in 2007. The Tirupur Exporters’ Association (TEA) gleefully set itself a target of Rs 25,000 crore by 2012, another five years hence—until its complacency was rudely shaken up by the dollar plunge.

Today, the dollar value hovers around Rs 39.50. With exports taking a big hit, and with jobs at risk, state Governments have already started writing to the Centre. They are a worried lot since the rupee’s hardening has begun having implications beyond textiles and handicrafts to aam aadmi sectors such as fisheries, plantations, cotton, jute, leather, plastic and linoleum.

While informing the Centre about the extent of job losses that have already taken place in their regions, Tamil Nadu, Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal have sought the Union Government’s intervention. Apart from the states, field reports have begun pouring in from other Central ministries and departments dealing with these sectors.

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