MILIND GHATWAI reports on the Surat textile industry's ham-handedattempts to modernise by entering the brave new world of IT.``The website address has only increased the weight of my visiting card.That's about all. There haven't been any hits to justify the presence of thesite.''Girish Luthra, a textile tycoon from Surat, launched his site four yearsago. He's received less than 10 hits. ``I wonder if any of them made tradeinquiries at al,'' he mused. Luthra's experience is symptomatic of the Surattextile industry's experience with Information Technology. ``The localtextile industry and IT are non-compatible,'' he says wryly.The new textile policy announced recently recognises the ``vital role of ITin a progressively IT-driven global economic environment as also its scopein bringing about speed, efficiency and transperancy in delivery systems.Using IT as a platform, a strong commercial intelligence network will bebuilt up and suitable infrastructure for harnessing the potential ofe-commerce will be put in place.''The new policy has also listed technology upgradation, modernisation ofpowerloom centres and testing facilities, clustering of facilities toachieve optimum level of production and welfare schemes for a healthy andsafe working environment for workers in powerloom units.Against the backdrop of the experience of Surat's textile industry, thepolicy statement sounds as pompous as talk of the industry becomingtechnologically advanced. Overproduction fuelled by greed has been the baneof this industry. Lakhs of workers, mostly from Orissa, Uttar Pradesh,Andhra Pradesh and Bihar toil away at dingy powerlooms units, a picture thathasn't changed over the years.This is despite the fact that Surat accounts for a major chunk of man-madefabrics, 25 per cent of the total export of garments from India. There isimmense untapped potential here because export of man-made fabrics forms 75per cent of the world market trade in garments.It's not that computers haven't made a dent in this highly decentralisedindustry. But its use has been limited to sari traders for maintainingaccounts.Those who are using it are very few in numbers, in fact IT is being used topromote the brands that were already a household names thanks to advertisingblitzkrieg on the telly a few years ago. Chetan Shah, of the South GujaratInformation Technologists Association, says the demand for computers hasstagnated. Initially, the industry showed a great deal of enthusiasm tolearn the new technology, but the demand generated in the last six monthscouldn't keep pace with projected growth.Unlike in the diamond industry, where marketing is done mostly out ofMumbai, various segments of the textile industry manufacture and markettheir products only from Surat. While information technology has littlescope in Surat's diamond industry for obvious reasons, it hasn't been ableto make its presence felt in the textile sector either. Luthra says, ``Mostof them don't use computers even for basic functions like accounting.''While Shah claims that net accessibility is not a problem, Rakesh Chaudharyof Pratibha, a famous brand name in Surat, says that it isn't justawareness, but the infrastructure that's missing. Power fluctuations arealso common. There is no necessary infrastructure to promote use of IT, headds.``Both the government and private ISPs have a poor record in Surat,'' hesays. More time is spent in getting connected than on actual surfing. ``ISPsshould get their act together. How can the industry talk of harnessing ITpotential if accessing the net itself is a problem?'' he questions.The president of Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry, BharatGandhi, claims otherwise. He says the chamber site has received as many as5,000 hits since it was launched last year. Orders worth lakhs have been generated from places like Canada and Gulf.Though no formal survey has been conducted, it is estimated that around 10per cent people use IT to meet their business goals. ``Whenever a newtechnology arrives, only 10 to 15 per cent people adopt it. IT is nodiffernt.'' He claims that even yarn merchants and loom owners are usingtapping information technology.The chairperson of the Federation of Indian Art Silk Weaving Industry, ArunJariwala, who was also a member of the Satyam Committee whoserecommendations formed the basis of the new textile policy, says theindustry has been reacting to the IT industry on the basis of availablecapacity. ``It will take a while for on-line trading to begin.'' Some haveonly just started using computers for accounting, and it will take a whilebefore an IT culture develops, he says.
