While textile mills and garment units in Tirupur have fallen silent, 100-odd apparel units are doing brisk business, thanks to an avalanche of orders national and overseas for face masks, personal protective equipment (PPE) and gloves. With orders for more than 10 lakh face masks and a lakh PPEs, the multi-million dollar apparel cluster is emerging as one of the major supplier of medical textiles in the country.
Orders started pouring in from state governments, corporate entities and private hospitals from the last week of March. Kerala government was among the first to place orders. From 10,000 masks, the orders soon touched a lakh and are galloping beyond 10 lakh.
On Friday, two consignments of masks and PPEs weighing more than two tonnes were sent to Kerala by train. A day back, a special flight was sent from Coimbatore to Mumbai carrying cartons of medical textiles.
The Tirupur apparel cluster has been going through a rough patch for the last three years, missing its annual turnover targets due to factors like demonetisation, GST and the global economic stagnation because of Covid-19. But the crisis has helped units here take baby steps towards technical textiles, a growing market.
