The loss hasn’t been restricted only in terms of new jobs. In fact, as the orders have dwindled, the companies haven’t been averse to laying off workers. The most-well known Ludhiana company, Oswal Woollen Mills, with annual exports of Rs 600 crore, has laid off around 500 workers in the past year. Executive Director Sandeep Jain says while software firms are better able to absorb the shock as they have margins of 30 per cent, even the most powerful textile firm cannot boast of margins beyond 10 per cent. This is serious because, unlike in the other sectors, competition is intense in textiles and a slight hike in prices leads the foreign buyer to turn to countries like Bangladesh, Vietnam, Taiwan, China, even Sri Lanka.

In a bid to cut his losses, Tirupur’s R. Sivaram, executive director of Royal Classic Mills, a Rs 225 crore company with exports worth Rs 125 crore, turned to “doubling” his company’s presence in the domestic market. It launched a premier trouser brand for men and increased the number of its showrooms across the country from 30 to 100 this year. A number of other companies, too, are looking at the domestic option and at new markets. Blue Mount Garments of Ludhiana, for instance, is planning outlets in the Middle East, which has a sizeable Indian population.

Living with diminishing margins is a prospect that exporters have to bravely face. ‘‘This is the new reality and we have to face it,” said A. Loganathan, who owns Victus Dyeings, a Tirupur-based Rs 85 crore company. ‘‘We are trying to reduce the turnaround time. My company achieved a delivery time of 45 days instead of the usual 75 days. This way, the cost of holding inventories is reduced. In fact, we are trying to reduce cost in all aspects…reducing stock holding periods and getting it right the first time with no quality issues and keeping to the delivery time.”

... contd.