Indian Textile Industry
Indian Textile Industry
The textile industry is the largest industry of modern India. It accounts for over 20 percent of industrial production and is closely linked with the agricultural and rural economy. It is the single largest employer in the industrial sector employing about 38 million people. If employment in allied sectors like ginning, agriculture, pressing, cotton trade, jute, etc. are added then the total employment is estimated at 93 million. The net foreign exchange earnings in this sector are one of the highest and, together with carpet and handicrafts, account for over 37 percent of total export earnings at over US $ 10 billion. Textiles,[1] alone, account for about 25 percent of India’s total forex earnings.
India’s textile industry since its beginning continues to be predominantly cotton based with about 65 percent of fabric consumption in the country being accounted for by cotton. The industry is highly localised in Ahmedabad and Bombay in the western part of the country though other centres exist including Kanpur, Calcutta, Indore, Coimbatore, and Sholapur.
The structure of the textile industry is extremely complex with the modern, sophisticated and highly mechanised mill sector on the one hand and the handspinning and handweaving (handloom) sector on the other. Between the two falls the small-scale powerloom sector. The latter two are together known as the decentralised sector. Over the years, the government has granted a whole range of concessions to the non-mill sector as a result of which the share of the decentralised sector has increased considerably in the total production. Of the two sub-sectors of the decentralised sector, the powerloom sector has shown the faster rate of growth. In the production of fabrics the decentralised sector accounts for roughly 94 percent while the mill sector has a share of only 6 percent.
Being an agro-based industry the production of raw material varies from year to year depending on
The textile industry is the largest industry of modern India. It accounts for over 20 percent of industrial production and is closely linked with the agricultural and rural economy. It is the single largest employer in the industrial sector employing about 38 million people. If employment in allied sectors like ginning, agriculture, pressing, cotton trade, jute, etc. are added then the total employment is estimated at 93 million. The net foreign exchange earnings in this sector are one of the highest and, together with carpet and handicrafts, account for over 37 percent of total export earnings at over US $ 10 billion. Textiles,[1] alone, account for about 25 percent of India’s total forex earnings.
India’s textile industry since its beginning continues to be predominantly cotton based with about 65 percent of fabric consumption in the country being accounted for by cotton. The industry is highly localised in Ahmedabad and Bombay in the western part of the country though other centres exist including Kanpur, Calcutta, Indore, Coimbatore, and Sholapur.
The structure of the textile industry is extremely complex with the modern, sophisticated and highly mechanised mill sector on the one hand and the handspinning and handweaving (handloom) sector on the other. Between the two falls the small-scale powerloom sector. The latter two are together known as the decentralised sector. Over the years, the government has granted a whole range of concessions to the non-mill sector as a result of which the share of the decentralised sector has increased considerably in the total production. Of the two sub-sectors of the decentralised sector, the powerloom sector has shown the faster rate of growth. In the production of fabrics the decentralised sector accounts for roughly 94 percent while the mill sector has a share of only 6 percent.
Being an agro-based industry the production of raw material varies from year to year depending on