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In this article we will discuss about the cotton textile industry of India.
Cotton Textile industry is one of the oldest and largest industries of India, which has made rapid strides during the current century. The industry is well organised in our country either in terms of value of annual output or number of labour employed. India has the world’s highest acreage under cotton, but in terms of production among fifty-five major countries, it ranks only fourth after the U.S.A., Russia and China.
Cotton is grown in our country over an area of about eight million hectares and average production during the last few seasons had been around eighty seven lakh bales.
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At present the industry provides direct employment to nearly twelve lakh workers. It also provides indirect employment to many millions like the cotton growers, processors, handloom and power-loom weavers who alone are estimated over three million and innumerable cloth dealers and shopkeepers.
The industry contributes in ever increasing measures to the Central and State Governments by way of taxes and duties. A large domestic market and plentiful supply of domestic cotton were the two basic factors responsible for the growth and development of cotton textiles into a major key industry.
The first factor still holds good. With an annual growth of 2.5 per cent in population the domestic demand for textiles is rising. But the second factor has been weakening and has tended to undermine the strength and stability of the industry.
It may be said that the future of this premier industry primarily depends on our ability to increase the cotton production efficiently and economically. In this industry, concentration of management and ownership is mostly in the hands of the private sector.
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Location:
Though cotton textile industry being the largest industry in India has spread practically over all parts of the country, it is mostly localised in the states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. This is obvious from that these two states claim more than half of the spindlage and about 2/3 of the loomage.
At the end of 1983 there were 805 mills in India. Out of this, 525 were spinning units and 280 were composite mills. Tamil Nadu, with 303, had the largest number of textile mills. But out of these only 24 were composite mills and the remaining made yarn.
In Maharashtra, there were 108, out of these, 80 were composite mills. There were 89 composite units in Gujarat, out of a total of 114 mills. These three States account for the block of the production of yam and growth in the organised sector. Gujarat and Maharashtra put together account for two-third of the mill loomage.
Reasons for this location are:
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(i) Availability of raw material both in good qualities and quantities;
(ii) Cheap and developed transport facilities including ports like Bombay and Kandla;
(iii) Availability of commercial and financial facilities like export and import houses and banking institutions;
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(iv) Suitable climate and
(v) Enterprising capital. In recent years, the cotton textile industry has also spread to a number of other states like Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh.
Size:
On the whole, Indian market favour the organisation of the small or moderate sized mills. Cotton mills in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, West Bengal, Orissa, Assam and Bihar are small in size. Size of the cotton mill industry in these states ranges from ten to fifteen thousand spindles and 200 to 400 looms.
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In Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and in Maharashtra the units are considered as medium sized. The size of model units in these regions ranges from fifteen to thirty thousand spindles and 400 to 600 looms. Big sized units with a range from 30 to 60 thousand spindles and 750 to 1500 looms are localised at Mumbai.
The Textile Policy:
The textile policy announced by the Government in August 1978 emphasises the need for encouragement of handloom sector. The policy stated that the government would freeze the loomage of mills and power-looms and the responsibility of meeting the additional requirements arising from the increase in population and also any improvement in the per capita consumption will be entrusted to the handloom sector.
This policy is aimed at in view of the fact that this would create additional jobs in the rural areas. A number of handloom development centres have been proposed to be started. As far as the policy on controlled cloth is concerned, it has been stated that mill made controlled cloth would be limited to 400 million sq. metres and would be produced by both the National Textile Corporation and the private sector mills.
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The policy further laid that, it is intended that the handloom sector should to the maximum extent possible and in the shortest period of time, meet the requirements of cloth for the weaker sections of the population. The manufacture of controlled cloth in the organised sector would be phased out over a period of time consistent with the growth of production of the required variety of cloth in the handloom sector.
Again, the Government of India announced its textile policy on the sixth June 1985, indicating significant changes in the Government’s approach to the growth and development of the textile industry.
It aims at free and unrestricted growth of the industry by removing sector-specific and fibre specific rigidities in production and capacity creation, prevention of unregulated growth of power looms, treating mill and power-loom sectors at par, providing protection to handloom sector, restructuring of the industry in terms of stages of manufacturing process and rationalization of excise duty structure.
It also emphasises rehabilitation of viable sick units, modernisation and upgradation of technology, as well as improvement in product quality and reduction in cost of production.
