Hundreds of thousands of garment workers in Tamil Nadu have got a pay rise of up to 30 per cent. The workers, including cloth cutters, tailors and button makers - will also get an additional inflation-linked allowance. In its July 13 ruling, the court asked manufacturers to immediately pay the revised wage as well as arrears backdated to December 2014. If this happens, workers would see their pay rise from a monthly average of Rs 4500 to Rs 6500.

But clothing manufacturers and exporters, who supply many international brands, said the new wages would be practically impossible to introduce given the tough global market conditions. They say the wage rise is unrealistic given the stiff competition they face from countries like Bangladesh and China.

India is one of the world's largest textile and garment manufacturers. The $40 billion a year industry employs around 45 million workers. Under the Minimum Wages Act, introduced in 1948, state governments are required to increase the basic minimum wage every five years, but textile manufacturers have repeatedly challenged these pay rises in Tamil Nadu. The last time the state government revised pay was in 2004. But the matter went to court immediately and the increase was not implemented.