The North Indian women, who were earlier known for their stylish salwar suits, are now shifting to buying ready-made garments, like tunics, leggings, jeans and other dresses. Most of these garments are manufactured in Ludhiana,” says Paramjit Singh, a local manufacturer of embroidered and printed fabric.
Most of the suit length manufacturers have, therefore, shifted to other businesses such as manufacturing of ready-made garments.
“We were already facing problems due to the anti-trader policy of the government. The government has levied VAT, and is not providing even basic facilities to the manufactures. However, the rejection from the customers is a major problem,” says Amrit Lal Jain, President of Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal.
“Once, suit length manufacturing was a flourishing industry in Amritsar, but now, we are finding it difficult to even survive. The customers are least interested in buying locally-manufactured items now. Earlier, people used to wear warm fabrics during the winters, but now, they prefer woollen tunics. The suit length manufacturing industry is totally decaying,” rues Bhushan Sood, a cloth trader in Amritsar.
“We find ready-made items more comfortable and fashionable. Most of the women in Amritsar have stopped wearing salwar suits, and now love wearing comfortable ready-made dresses,” says Poonam Sharma, a homemaker.