Textile Industry
A. Cotton Textile Industry
• Cotton textile industry comprises of three sectors: mill sector, handloom and power-loom. The share of large mill, handloom and power-loom sector in the total production of cotton cloth in 1998-99 was 5.4 per cent, 20.6 per cent and 74 per cent respectively.
• The Cotton and synthetic fiber textile industry has made tremendous progress. Per capita availability of cloth from both the types was 15 meters only in 1960-61. In the year 1995-96, it has risen to 28 meters.
• This has enabled us to export cotton yarn, cotton fabrics and cotton and synthetic garments on a large scale. In 1995-96 we earned 2.6 billion dollars by their exports.
• Distribution: Cotton Textile Industry
a) Cotton textile industry is one of the most widely distributed industries in our country. These mills are located in more than 88 centers in different parts of the country. But majority of cotton textile mills are still located in the cotton growing areas of the Great Plains and peninsular India.
b) Maharashtra is the leading producer of cotton textile in the country. Mumbai is the major centre of textile mills. About a half of the Cotton textile mills are located in Mumbai alone. It is, therefore, rightly called as ‘Cottonpolis’ of India. Sholapur, Kohlapur, Nagpur, Pune, Aurangabad and Jalgaon are other important centers in Maharashtra.
c) Gujarat, which ranks second in the production of cotton textiles, Ahamedabad is the major centre of the state. Surat, Bharauch, Vadodara, Bhavnagar and Rajkot are other centers in the state.
d) Tamil Nadu has emerged as an important producer of cotton textiles in southern states. Coimbatore is an important centre in the state. Tirunelveli, Chennai, Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Salem and Thanjavour are other important centers here.
e) In Karnataka, cotton textile industry is concentrated at Bangalore, Mysore, Belgaum and Gulberga.
f) Kanpur, Etawah, Modinagar, Varanasi, and Hathras are important centers in Uttar Pradesh.
g) In Madhya Pradesh this industry is concentrated at Indore and Gwalior.
h) Howrah, Serampur and Murshidabad are important Cotton textile centers in West Bengal.
i) Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh are the other states producing cotton textiles.
• Factors for the localization of textile industry: Ahmadabad– Mumbai – Pune region
a) Availability of raw material – A large amount of cotton is grown in this belt.
b) Availability of capital – Mumbai, Ahmadabad and Pure are the places where capital for investment is easily available.
c) Means of transport – This region is well connected with the rest of India by roads and railways. It, therefore, facilities transportation of finished products.
d) Accessibility to the market – Maharashtra and Gujarat has a large market to sell textile products here. Developed means of transportation help in movement of textile products to other market centers as well as to foreign market. Nowadays the market has become a dominant factor in determining the location of cotton textile industry.
e) Nearness to ports – Mumbai port facilitates the import of machinery and good quality of cotton from abroad and export of the finished products.
f) Cheap labour – Cheap and skilled labour is easily available from the surrounding areas.
g) Availability of power – Cheap and sufficient power is easily available here.

B. Silk Textile Industry
• Indian Silk is known for its exquisiteness world over and has a long history of silk exports. The silk was mainly produced by the handloom sector. Only in the late 20th century the modern silk fabric manufacturing techniques developed. Even today the finer or the special textured fabrics are done on the handlooms.
• India holds 2nd position after China in the field of silk production. There are four different types of silk- (1) Mulberry (2) Tasar (3) Eri (4) Muga (golden yellow).
• India is also the 2nd largest producer of tasar after China. India has also a monopoly in Muga, Assam is the only producer.
• The first modern factory was established in 1932 at Howrah. State wise the distribution of silk industry is as follow:-
• Karnataka: 70% of total country’s silk output (only Mulberry).
a) Production area: Banglore, Mysore, Kolar, Mandya, Tumkur, Belgaum and Coorg districts.
b) Mill- Channapatna, Mysore.
• Assam: 2% of total country putput, third largest producer of non-mulberry silk and the only Muga producing region.
a) Production – Goalpara, Kamrup, Nawgaong; Mill – Jagi-Road.
• West Bengal: 13% of the country’s production, mostly mulberry.
a) Production – Malda, Murshidabad, Birbhum, Bankura.
b) Mill- Bishnerpur, Baswa, Raghunathpur, Chak-Islampur
• Jharkhand: 8% of the country’s production, mostly tassar.
a) Production- Palamu, Ranchi, Hazaribagh.
• Bihar – Bhagalpur.
• M.P.: 2.7% of the country, largest tassar producer after Bihar
a) Production – Balaghat, Bastar, Bilaspur, Raigarh, Surguja
• J&K: mostly mulberry producer; “Tabby”- white plain silk of J&K
b) Production – Anantnag, Baramula, Doda, Jammu, Udhampur.
• Orissa: Tasar producer.
• Varanasi & Bombay are the main silk weaving centres.

C. Jute Industry
• Jute is a rain-fed crop with little need for fertilizer or pesticides. The production is concentrated in India and Bangladesh. India with overall of 66% of world’s production tops the production of jute. Bangladesh with 25% lies at second position followed way behind by China with 3%.
• It supports nearly 4 million farm families, besides providing direct employment to about 2.6 lakh industrial workers and livelihood to another 1.4 lakh people in the tertiary and allied activities.
• Locational factors for high concentration of jute mills in Hugli basin are as follows:
a) The Ganga-Brahmaputra delta grows about 90 per cent of India’s jute and provides raw material to jute mills here.
b) Coal is obtained from Raniganj fields which are hardly 200 km away.
c) Cheap water transportation is available. The area is also served by a network of roads and railways.
d) Abundant water is available for processing, washing and dyeing jute.
e) Humid climate is very convenient for spinning and weaving.
f) Kolkata is a big port which helps in the import of machinery and spare parts and in the export of finished jute products.
g) High density of population in West Bengal and in the neighbouring parts of Jharkhand and Bihar provides abundant cheap labour. Some labour comes from Uttar Pradesh also.
h) Big capitalists are living in and around Kolkata which makes easy flow of capital in this industry.
i) Banking and insurance facilities are also available in and around Kolkata.
j) The early arrival of British merchants under the aegis of East India Company in Kolkata helped in setting this industry here. So Kolkata enjoys the advantage of an early start.