The president of Sewing Machines Industries said 1.5 lakh sewing machines and 5-6 lakh replacement parts of the sewing machines were delivered to Afghanistan
For over a month, as Afghanistan is facing a full-blown war between the Taliban and the Northern Alliance amid government transition, the sewing machine manufacturing sector in Ludhiana is expecting significant losses. The president of Sewing Machines Industries in Ludhiana, Jagjit Singh Sokhi informed ANI on Wednesday that he is concerned about imminent losses incurred due to the crisis unfolding in Afghanistan.
He stated that 1.5 lakh sewing machines and 5-6 lakh replacement parts of the sewing machines were delivered to Afghanistan each year, and from that, the company brought in Rs 150-200 crores every year. However, he believes that the industry was about to suffer as a result of the new administration.
More about Ludhiana’s sewing machine industry
Sokhi informed ANI, “the Afghanistan crisis is a huge blow to us, especially after Covid. Afghanistan takes a lot of our machines; they are supplied in bulk to Afghanistan. We expect a 40 per cent downfall in our trade. This is done either through Pakistan, Dubai or directly to Afghanistan. The crisis in Afghanistan has further hit the industry.” According to Sokhi, in 1942, the sewing machine business began in Ludhiana.
He further said that the quality of the sewing machines which are manufactured in these factories are very popular. They are not just marketed domestically, but also in the Middle East and other Islamic nations, where the embroidery is quite famous. There are 6000 units, both big and small in Ludhiana and the turnover is around Rs. 1200-1500 crores,” he added.
Remarks of an industrialist on Ludhiana’s sewing machine industry
Another industrialist from Ludhiyana, Samandeep Singh informed ANI that his family has been in the sewing machine business for over 50 years. He further said Afghanistan receives 70% of its exports. However, he claimed that the Taliban power control on Afghanistan had impacted the business. He even added that for the previous two months, shipments have been halted. Payments on all current orders have been suspended. “Production has been reduced by 50 per cent. Future does not look good,” he said.
Samandeep remarked that it is labour-intensive employment and if they stop their work then their labours will be unemployed. He went on to say that the government needs to consider these problems.
According to The Tribune, the club’s general secretary Kulwant Singh stated that there are no instructions being sent out currently about the sewing machine industry shipment and everything else is on hold. He further added that they have to wait for things to return to normal, where sewing machines account for a significant portion of all goods exported to Afghanistan