Micro units in Coimbatore face several challenges. | Photo credit: File photo
James, who had two CNC turning centers and employed two people, stopped running his micro-industry in Coimbatore three months ago. “I’m looking for someone to lease it,” he says.
James is among the thousands of micro-industry owners in Coimbatore who are struggling to stay in business. He was doing jobs for several pump companies and had no jobs for the last three months.
“Textiles, pumps and motors and automobiles are the main sectors of Coimbatore’s micro industries. Textiles and the pumps and motors sector have been seeing a sharp decline in orders for almost two years now,” says C. Sivakumar, president, Coimbatore Tiruppur District Tiny and Micro Entrepreneurs’ Association.
“The first and second quarters of the current financial year have been a bust for the Coimbatore pump set industry. Inventories are at all levels. Orders are usually picked up in the northern markets after Deepavali. We will know in a week what the demand will be in the northern states. Even if the demand picks up, stocks will be sold and production will pick up only in December,” says Mithun the Southern India Engineering Manufacturer’s, President of Southern Ramdas. association.
Even as industries try to remain open, the price of copper, a major raw material for the pump set industry, has risen by 15% in the last two to three months. That’s a big disruption. Some of the big companies in Coimbatore have given long leave to workers during the puja (Navarathri) holidays due to a drop in orders, he says.
Mr. Sivakumar adds that orders for spare parts from the textile sector have seen a 60% decline in the last two years. “So many machines were scrapped that the minimum requirements for spare parts are met even from the scrap. So the business has been out of business for two years,” he adds.
J. James, president of the Tamil Nadu Association of Cottage and Tiny Enterprises, and Mr. Sivakumar say that apart from the drop in demand, structural and political problems have hit the micro industry hard.
The refusal of the central and state governments to reduce the GST rate for labor units to 5% is one of the main problems, says Mr. Sivakumar. There is no point in making a demand to the government now because no one is willing to listen, he says.
High energy costs, decline in wage charges paid by large industries, over-availability of production capacity and declining competitiveness of industries in Coimbatore have hit the micro sector hard. So many micro-industry owners are moving to other businesses, adds Mr James.
Published – 21 Oct 2025 20:38 IST
