Flag manufacturing industry booms

With just one month left for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, flag manufacturers in Coimbatore are seeing sales soar. The flag-manufacturing sector in the city has witnessed a boom this year, and has already received more than 15 million orders from various political parties. The manufacturers said they received orders not only from Tamil Nadu but also from neighboring states. "We are in the business for the past 10 years. We are getting good business these days as the elections are approaching. We are getting a lot of orders these days. We are getting orders from Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh," said Vijayarajan, a flag manufacturer. The workers said the Election Commission's move to ban flex posters and plastic flags have helped them in getting more business. "This year we are getting more orders than last time. Since the election commissioner has banned the use of plastic items and flexes (flex posters), we are getting more order for cloth flags," said Ravi, flag designer. The polls to the 234-member Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly will take place on April 13.