When R Deepak, a tailor, arrived in Tirupur a few years ago, along with 100 others from his home state Bihar, he felt he was entering the land of opportunity as the city was a hub for garment export. This past month, his life appears to be coming apart at the seams. “I want to go back home,” says the 30-year-old. “I was earning ₹20,000 a month, but now it is barely ₹7,000. I only have work for a couple of days a week. If things don’t improve, I am going back with my family.” Tirupur’s knitwear industry, which exported ₹40,000 crore worth of goods in 2024-25 and projected 25% growth this fiscal, is now battling a slowdown that has slashed shifts, wages and jobs. The 50% tariff imposed by the US on Indian textile exports has impacted MSME exporters in Tirupur, where the US accounts for

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