BANGALORE, INDIA: Even as the Indian government is getting ready to undertake a nationwide survey of over 800 companies to find out the exact job losses in India due to the global financial crisis, the first report of pink slips is out.

According to estimates of the textile ministry, there will be job losses of about five lakh in the next five months. This was disclosed by commerce secretary GK Pillai on the sidelines of a government-industry interaction organised by Ficci.

In a presentation made before the commerce secretary, Shishir Jaipuria, deputy chairman, Confederation of Indian Textiles Industry, said the growth of the textile sector fell from 5.2% in April-September 2007 to a minuscule 0.3% in the same period this fiscal.

He said the textiles and clothing industry employs 35 million workers directly, adding that already 7 lakh jobs are estimated to have been lost and another 5 lakh would lose jobs by March 2009.

Financial results of 50 major textile companies listed in the Bombay Stock Exchange shows that though turnover increased, profits became negative in the second quarter this year. In the remaining last two quarters, even turnover will decline, he warned. Smaller units are already suffering significant production loss, Jaipuria added.

For instance, the profitability of renowned companies like Bombay Dyeing fell from (-)370% in the first quarter over the same quarter last year, to (-)828% in the second quarter as against last year’s Q2.

Over 50% of textile products manufactured in the country is being exported. US, EU and Japan constitute over 60% of our textiles exports. All the three countries are in a recession mode.

US’s import of textile products from India during January-August 2008 declined by 1.56% in value terms, compared to the same period of 2007. For garments, the decline was higher at 4.8%. The imports demand of Indian textiles in EU and Japan is declining on similar trend, though data is not available yet.