Double whammy for owners of business units in Ggn

As time to provide salaries to workers has arrived, moment of crisis has now evolved for owners of business units, small-scale startups and service providers located in Udyog Vihar, Gurugram. 

Considered to be the hub of garment export units, emerging startups and small-scale service provider companies, there are thousands of contractual and informal employees working in Udyog Vihar. 

Developed by Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC), Udyog Vihar, situated near the Delhi border, is divided into five phases. 

As the industrial significance of the city has grown over the years, HSIIDC has added more phases beyond the Hero Honda Chowk.  

Most payments to contractual and informal workers are done through cash. As the D-day has now arrived for the owners to pay their workers, there is just not enough cash with them to pay their employees.

It’s a double whammy for the owners who are facing severe hardships due to demonetisation. 

According  to the owners of Udyog Vihar, situation has been very grim in the month of November. 

Most owners mentioned that not only have their business units faced losses due to insufficient liquidity but now,  with the prospect of paying their workers, the situation  has become all the more difficult for them.

An owner of a garment export house located in Udyog Vihar Phase 3 said: “Udyog Vihar has a lot of garment export units. A garment export house is a labour-intensive industry. Based on how large the unit is, the number of workers can range from 500 in number to 1000. Most of the employees work on temporary basis and have not opened their bank accounts in the city. Most of them are, therefore, paid in cash. In today’s times, both the small scale and large scale garment export units are struggling to pay their workers.” 

The owner further added: “The month of November has been tough for most business units in Udyog Vihar. Not only have the units suffered in terms of sales but the lack of labour have also affected the productivity to a great extent.”

Raghu Kishan, a contractual worker hailing from Gopalganj district in Bihar, said: “I have a throat infection for which I require money. I have been told to wait for 10 days by the owner as there is no money.”