Around 1,000 of the 33,000 power loom units in Coimbatore and Tirupur districts of Tamil Nadu have become sick units. And a a few thousand more units are in deep debt, with interest mounting every day. The situation is fast worsening. The monthly interest alone comes up to Rs 20,000 a month. This apart from the amount paid for labor, electricity bills, replacing spare parts and paying for dyeing, fitting, knotting charges.

A large number of units have not been able to pay off their bank interest regularly and that keeps accumulating over the years. In 2014, textile units had reached an agreement with power loom unit owners, whereby textile units would give a 30 per cent hike in job working charges. But this arrangement lasted for hardly three months. The textile units then went back to their old rates claiming business was dull. Textile unit usually give power loom units the yarn to be spun into fabric.

An average unit with around 10 looms gets to weave around 600 meters of cloth. It gets paid about Rs 5 a meter but labor and other charges have to be paid and working costs like electricity, spare parts, knotting and dyeing have gone up.