Traders upset as Erode Corporation hikes rent for shops at Gani Market

Traders at Erode's Gani market upset over rent hike, facing competition from roadside shops, impacting business negatively.

Traders at the E.K.M. Abdul Gani Textile Hub (Gani market) at Panneerselvam Park in Erode, whose businesses were already impacted by roadside textile shops, are upset after the Corporation increased the rent for shops without prior notice.

For many years, over 720 weekly and daily shops operated at Gani market complex. However, the civic body demolished the complex and built the new hub under the Smart Cities Mission project at a cost of ₹51.59 crore. Construction began in June 2019 and was completed in 2022, with 292 shops in the new hub. A delay of over a year in occupancy was caused by demands from traders for priority allocation in the new hub, as well as concerns over higher rent and deposits. After obtaining approval from the State government, the civic body reduced both the rent and the deposits, after which a total of 226 shops were occupied by traders.

In July, 2024, 80 shops were allotted to small roadside traders on the third floor at a fixed rent of ₹3,000 a month (including Goods and Services Tax) and a deposit of ₹50,000 a shop. “But, the Corporation recently increased the rent to ₹3,560,” said K. Selvaraj, president of the Erode Gani Market Weekly All Textile Merchants’ Association. He told The Hindu that 37 traders who were allotted shops on the third floor refused to start their business due to the rent hike. “Roadside shops are taking away our business, and we are helpless,” he said.

During Deepavali, roadside shops operated outside the hub, further impacting business for traders. Traders staged a protest, leading to the temporary removal of the roadside shops. However, these shops returned within hours, and business at the hub remained poor, said another trader, who wished to remain anonymous. The trader also claimed that the eviction drive carried out recently seemed more like a formality, as traders in the hub continued to suffer without sufficient business.

Mr. Selvaraj said discussions were ongoing with Corporation officials, as more traders were reluctant to continue operating at the hub due to the high rent and increasing competition from roadside vendors.