Chennai, July 21 (IANS) Wet grinder manufacturers and their component suppliers in Coimbatore downed their shutters Thursday, demanding the state government bar importers from participating in a massive Tamil Nadu government tender.


“Around 500 units - wet grinder makers and their component suppliers - struck work today, urging the government to bar wet grinder importers from participating in the state government tender,” B. Sakthi, president of Coimbatore Wet Grinder Manufacturers Association (COWMA) told IANS over phone from Coimbatore, around 500 km from here.

He said the day’s production loss will be around 8,000 units or around Rs.1.5 crore.

The state government has floated a tender for 25 lakh grinders to be distributed to families eligible to draw rice from the public distribution system (PDS).

According to Sakthi, two out of the 19 bidders have said that they would import the grinders from China.

This information emerged when a technical team from the state government visited the facilities of the bidding companies to verify their claims in their bid.

"The news of possible wet grinder imports from the land of noodles has taken the grinder manufacturers in the land of idlis and dosas entirely by surprise," one of the manufacturers quipped.

The industry struck work as a pre-emptive action to protect their business.