Chennai, Aug 31: AIADMK general secretary and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami has called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to announce a six-month moratorium on loan repayments for textile units in the state, warning that the additional tariffs imposed by the United States on Indian exports could trigger large-scale job losses.

In a statement, Palaniswami also appealed to the Tamil Nadu government to adopt innovative measures to ensure that production in the textile sector remains unaffected. He criticised the DMK government, pointing to increased property tax, higher electricity tariffs, and rising cotton prices as additional burdens that have weakened the industry.

Palaniswami noted that districts such as Coimbatore, Erode, Tiruppur, Karur and Namakkal host thousands of spinning mills that employ lakhs of workers, and said policy missteps in recent years had aggravated the difficulties faced by manufacturers. He further remarked that while Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had urged the Prime Minister via social media to act against the US tariffs, the industry's struggles began much earlier, coinciding with the DMK government taking office in 2021.

The AIADMK leader said the higher costs of Indian goods in the American market would make them less competitive compared to imports from other countries, reducing sales in the US. 'Exports can only be sustained if production is not disrupted,' he stressed, urging the state government to focus on removing bottlenecks and restoring investor confidence in the sector.

Concluding his remarks, Palaniswami said it was time for the state and Central governments to rise above political blame games and work together to safeguard the livelihoods of thousands of workers whose future depends on the strength of Tamil Nadu's textile industry.

/IANS