The Coimbatore Tiny and Small Foundry Owners Association went on a one-day bandh here today in protest against abnormal hike in the price of raw materials like charcoal, pig iron and petroleum coke which affected their business.

More than 450 foundry owners participated in the bandh which affected over 5 lakh workers.

The spiralling raw material price will lead to closure of around 15 per cent foundries here, according to Coimbatore Tiny and Small Foundry Owners Association president A Sivasanmuga Kumar. “If this situation continues, it will be difficult to run foundries. This bandh is to make the State and Central governments aware of the situation,” he added.

The bandh has caused a loss of Rs 150 crore, Sivasanmuga said.

More than 10 members from association sent a petition to District Collector T.N. Hariharan and demanded action to check the price rise and also request banks to defer loan repayment.