Gujarat Assembly Election | Spotlight on Surat’s textile industries

The city of Surat is not just a diamond and jewellery hub. It's also home to a large and thriving community of textile traders and textile mills, boasting an annual turnover of over Rs 80,000 crore. Like their brothers in the diamond business, these people have also had a tough couple of years, with the post-pandemic recovery seeing numerous hurdles.

Surat's textile industry is going through a rough patch. Demand is muted, input costs have increased, cash inflows have been interrupted, and the frequency of incidents of cheating and fraud have risen. The Aam Aadmi Party has been campaigning on a couple of these issues promising free electricity as a way to lower input costs, and a better law and order situation. A few other subsidies are also on offer. But the constituency may prove hard to crack, considering it is traditionally a BJP stronghold.

In CNBC-TV18's ongoing series "Election Exchange", Sanita Gora finds out if the community is happy with the help it has received from the state machinery.