For the last two years the hosiery and blanket industry in Ludhiana faced dull sales owing to warm winters. Now the industry is reeling under the aftershock of demonetization. Some units have cut down production or stopped it altogether owing to the cash crunch. So have the 200-odd blanket manufacturers in Amritsar.

Ludhiana has nearly 15,000 big, medium and small hosiery and knitwear units making shawls, sweaters, jackets, gloves, caps and warmers. Jammu and Kashmir is Ludhiana’s biggest market for hosiery products as it has long winters and a huge inflow of tourists and pilgrims at Vaishno Devi. But all orders from the valley this year have got cancelled due to the unrest.

The hosiery industry was already hit by relatively warmer winters in the last two years. And now the note ban has left it with no cash to pay labourers. The return of unsold stock from wholesalers and retailers was also high. After the note ban, there has been no fresh demand from retailers and wholesalers, who in turn say there are fewer customers. So units in Ludhiana feel there is no point in producing when there is no demand. They expect to suffer losses to the tune of crores.