Cotton plays an important role in the Indian economy as the country’s textile industry is predominantly cotton based. India is one of the largest producers as well as exporters of cotton yarn. The textile industry is also expected to reach US$ 223 billion by the year 2021.

The states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Punjab are the major cotton producers in India. There has been a phenomenal growth of this industry during the last four decades. About 16 per cent of the industrial capital and over 20 per cent of the industrial labour of the country is engaged in this industry.

India has a glorious tradition of producing excellent quality cotton textiles. Before the British rule, Indian hand spun and hand woven cloth already had a wide market. The Muslins of Dhaka, Chintzes of Masulipatnam, Calicos of Calicut and Gold-wrought cotton of Burhanpur, Surat and Vadodara were known worldwide for their quality and design. But the production of hand woven cotton textile was expensive and time consuming. Hence, traditional cotton textile industry could not face the competition from the new textile mills of the West, which produced cheap and good quality fabrics through mechanized industrial units.

A host of factors such as low labour costs, government subsidies , irrigation, proximity to ports led to the spread of cotton textile industry.

 Pre-1920’s:

• Traditionally, cotton industry in India was largely concentrated in cotton growing areas of peninsula, Like Gujarat (Surat), Maharashtra(Mumbai).
• These areas had advantages of proximity of market, capital facility, cheap labour, proximity to port facility and favourable humid climate.
• But cotton is lightweight, non-perishable material, humidity can be created artificially and there is hardly any weightloss during production.
• As a result, proximity to raw material becomes non-critical factor in location.
• Production can be carried out anywhere with cheap labour, energy and water supply is available for dyeing.

Post-1920’s:

• Dispersal of industry from the old nuclei started after 1921 with railway lines penetrating into the peninsular region.
• Gradually industry shifted towards small towns and cities. Example: centres like Coimbatore, Madurai, Bangalore, Nagpur, Indore, Solapur ,Vadodara, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Indore, Amritsar.
• These were favourably located in respect to raw material, market and labour than places of original locations.
• This industry also reached some places with some additional advantages, such as nearness to coal (Nagpur), financial facilities (Kanpur) and wide market with port facilities (Kolkata).
• Dispersal of cotton textile industry was further boosted with the development of hydroelectricity. The growth of this industry in Coimbatore, Madurai and Tirunelveli is largely due to the availability of hydroelectricity from Pykara dam.

Post-Independence:

• The industry also tended to shift from areas of high labour cost to those with low labour cost. The labour cost factor played a crucial role in establishing this industry at Madurai, Tirunelveli, and Coimbatore.
• Government Incentives: Handloom industry considered highly labour-intensive, beneficial to village economy and women empowerment. Therefore government aids them with measures such as Integrated Village Handloom Development scheme and National Silk Yarn Scheme.
• Handloom sector employs more than 65 lakh people and contributes to 15 % of total textile productions. They are widely distributed throughout the country, states of Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Manipur account for nearly 50 per cent of the production capacity.

Conclusion:

A huge population is dependent on growing of cotton as well as textile industry. The labour-intensiveness, low-capital and high export incentives, urbanization and demand changing fashion has led to setting up of many decentralised textile centers.