Textile industry in India

History

The archaeological surveys and studies have found that the people of Harrapan civilization knew weaving and the spinning of cotton four thousand years ago. Reference to weaving and spinning materials is found in the Vedic Literature. There was textile trade in India during the early centuries. A block printed and resist-dyed fabrics, whose origin is from Gujarat is found in tombs of Fostat, Egypt. This proves that Indian export of cotton textiles to the Egypt or the Nile Civilization in medieval times were to a large extent. Large quantity of north Indian silk were traded through the silk route in China to the western countries. The Indian silk were often exchanged with the western countries for their spices in the barter system. During the late 17th and 18th century there were large export of the Indian cotton to the western countries to meet the need of the European industries during industrial revolution. Consequently, there was development of nationalist movement like the famous Swadeshi movement which was headed by the Aurobindo Ghosh.

Production

India is the second largest producer of fibre in the world and the major fibre produced is cotton. Other fibres produced in India include silk, jute, wool, and man-made fibers. 60% of the Indian textile Industry is cotton based. The strong domestic demand and the revival of the Economic markets by 2009 has led to huge growth of the Indian textile industry. In December 2010, the domestic cotton price was up by 50% as compared to the December 2009 prices. The causes behind high cotton price are due to the floods in Pakistan and China . India projected a high production of textile (325 lakh bales for 2010 -11). There has been increase in India's share of global textile trading to seven percent in five years. The rising prices are the major concern of the domestic producers of the country.

Cotton textiles

In the early years, the cotton textile industry was concentrated in the cotton growing belt of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Availability of raw materials, market, transport, labour, moist climate and other factors contributed to localisation. In the early twentieth century, this industry played a huge role in Bombay's economy but soon declined after independence. While spinning continues to be centralised in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, weaving is highly decentralised. As of 30 September 2013, there are 1962 cotton textile mills in India, of which about 80% are in the private sector and the rest in the public and cooperative sector. Apart from these, there are several thousand small factories with four to ten looms.

India exports yarn to Japan, United States, United Kingdom, Russia, France, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka and other countries. India has the second-largest installed capacity of spindles in the world, with 43.13 million spindles (30 March 2011) after China. Although India has a large share in world trade of cotton yarn, its trade in garments is only 4% of the world's total. This is due to the incompetency of local spinning and weaving mills to process yarn. There exist some large factories, but most of the production is fragmented in small units, which cater to the local market. This mismatch is a major drawback for the industry. As a result, many of the spinners export yarn while apparel and garment manufacturers have to import fabric. The power supply is erratic and machinery is outdated and needs to be upgraded. Other problems include low output of labour and stiff competition with the synthetic fibre industry.

Jute textiles

India is the largest producer of raw jute and jute goods and the second largest exporter after Bangladesh. There were about 80 jute mills in India in 2010-11, most of which are located in West Bengal, mainly along the banks of the Hooghly River, in a narrow belt (98 km long and 3 km wide). Factors responsible for their location in the Hooghly basin are: inexpensive water transport, good network of railways, roadways and waterways to facilitate movement of raw material to mills, abundant water supply, cheap labour from neighbouring states.

In 2010-2011 the jute industry was supporting 0.37 million workers directly and another 400,000 small and marginal farmers who were engaged in the cultivation of jute.

Challenges faced by the industry include stiff competition in the international market from synthetic substitutes and from other countries such as Bangladesh, Brazil, Philippines, Egypt and Thailand. However, the internal demand has been on the rise due to Government policy of mandatory use of jute packaging. To stimulate demand, the products need to be diversified. In 2005, the National Jute Policy was formulated with the objective of improving quality, increasing productivity an enhancing the yield of the crop.

The main markets for jute are the United States, Canada, Russia, United Kingdom and Australia.

Ministry of textiles and organizations

Government of India passed the National Textile Policy in 2000. The major functions of the ministry of textiles are formulating policy and coordination of man-made fiber, cotton, jute, silk, wool industries, decentralization of power loom sector, promotion of exports, planning & economic analysis, finance and promoting use of information technology. The advisory boards for the ministry include All India Handlooms Board, All India Handicrafts Board, All India Power looms Board, Advisory Committee under Handlooms Reservation of Articles for Production and Co-ordination Council of Textiles Research Association. There are several public sector units and textile research associations across the country.