all Eigendreh

Lower thirds:

00:02 Report by Manira Chaudhary & Richard Kujur
00:39 Ashish Khushwaha | Garment manufacturer
01:32 Nitin Pratap | Textile exporter
01:55 Kalawati Devi | Garment factory worker
02:08 Nitin Pratap | Textile exporter

Script: 

00.00 Visuals begin
00.01 VO begins
Ashish Kushwaha runs a modest workshop with seven workers, and is
 heavily dependent on orders from export houses shipping to the US.
(Ashish talking with his workers-who are working on sewing machines)
 
00.12
In May this year, Ashish dipped into his savings to buy this needlework machine, worth nearly 5,000 euros. His dream was simple: expand his business to include embroidered clothes for export to the United States.
(Ashish working on a big machine which is embroidering something on a frame of cloth. Counting his inventory on a rack)

00.28
But the US’s threat of a 50% tariff on textiles imported from India has dashed his plans. 
(Ashish making notes on his diary while counting garments)
 
00.35
SOT: Ashish Khushwaha, Garment Manufacturer: (in Hindi, please revoice) “Many export orders are on hold right now because of this tariff announcement. 50% of my earnings come solely from such orders. So I am worried about what will happen. I have to pay workers too. There will be problems.” 

00.47
With no Plan B, Ashish is bracing for the worst.
(ashish talking to his workers)
00.52 
SOT: Ashish Khushwaha, Garment Manufacturer: (in Hindi, please revoice)
I will have to let go of some people to cut my expenses. I will also need to move to a smaller place perhaps to save on rent.
 
01.06
India is one of the world’s top textile exporters. In 2024, it shipped some 10.5 billion dollars’ worth of garments to the US alone.
(Pile of clothes kept on the table-two workers swiftly folding them up)

01.17  
The huge market has also drawn in new entrepreneurs, like Nitin Pratap, who just secured his export license. But his very first big order, also from the US, has been put on hold.
(cut to Nitin walking down the aisle of his workshop. Nitin talking to his staff as they work on garments)

01.30
SOT: Nitin Pratap, Textile Exporter: (:in Hindi, please revoice) “With more tariffs, the cost of the garments will shoot up, which will eat into our profit margins. It won’t leave us enough money to source more raw material for other orders from fabric vendors. It will have a big impact.”  

01.44
Like Ashish, his concern is also for  his workers- about 200 of them. 
(A man closely putting tiny beads on a cloth. A wide shot- workers in the workshop on their machines)

01.49
Like Kalawati cuts fabric here at Nitin’s workshop.
(Close up of kalawati cutting a cloth. Nitin talking to her)

01.54
SOT: Kalawati Devi, Garment factory worker: (in Hindi, please revoice) “I have been doing this work for five years. This is how I earn and feed my family.”
 
02.00
Here in Noida, India’s “city of apparel”, an entire ecosystem is in turmoil.
(shots of workers busy in their tasks)

02.07
SOT: Nitin Pratap, Textile Exporter:(in Hindi, please revoice) “There are hundreds and thousands of workers here in this industry. They live a hand to mouth existence and they have to earn every day to eat.”
(Nitin on camera, cut to close ups of some more of his workers)

02.20
Ashish and Nitin, both first-time entrepreneurs and the first in their families to own businesses, now meet often to prepare for what’s ahead. They’ve poured years of sweat and savings into businesses that sustain hundreds of workers and their families. Their future is now hanging very much in the balance. +++