It has been a tough haul for the small industries in Tamil Nadu following the floods of 2015. Units have mostly had to pull themselves up on their own strength and support from their customers, or through individual arrangements with banks.
The Industrial Estate Manufacturers Association, Guindy, had said at that time that over 20,000 micro, small and medium enterprises were affected by the floods. They will need financial assistance of at least ₹2 lakh a unit – half as subsidy, and the balance as interest-free loan repayable after the units revive.
The association estimated the sector’s loss of production in the State at about ₹7,000-10,000 crore, with over 2 lakh workers displaced.
A consultant for the small units said the Tamil Nadu government had mediated with banks and financial institutions and announced a term loan deferral and some interest subsidy. While this was of some help, units had to scramble for their own working capital and to replace or refurbish equipment.
All the major industrial estates in Chennai were inundated.
The units had lost orders for supply as large contractors could not afford to delay their own projects waiting for small components from the SMEs.
VS Narasimhan, Past President, Federation of Associations of Small Industries of India, who runs a small scale unit in Guindy, said there had been no significant support to the sector in general. Individual units that had the financial capacity and working arrangement with banks had managed on their own. At his own unit, he had to abandon half the 18 CNC machines as they were beyond repair.
Most small and tiny units had salvaged what was possible and had got back to work. This was critical not just for business, but also because each unit employs 4-10 workers, whose families depended on these jobs.
The consultant and industry associations acknowledge that the government has begun work on storm-water drains and road repair, but these need to be speeded up and completed ahead of the coming North-East monsoon.