Development of textile industry in India

Advantages to Indian Cotton Textile Industry

In addition to availability of large labor force with required skills at a comparatively cheap rate, Indian Textile Industry has a great advantage in that India is the third largest cotton producing country in the World. Moreover, India has the largest area under cotton in the world. Further the average cotton yields per hectare were as low as 310 kgs per hectare as against countries like China, Brazil and Australia where yield levels are over 1000 kgs per hectare and world average yield of 728 Kgs per hectare, no doubt in the previous two years, yield levels have gone up to 435 kgs. /hectare. The Indian Cotton Textile Industry can therefore, bank up on the domestic production of cotton to meet its raw material requirements. This is a major source of strength for the Indian Cotton Textile Industry. Of course, China and Pakistan are also major cotton producing countries and the cotton textile Industry in those countries also enjoy the same advantage as Indian Cotton Textile Industry.

TEXTILE INDUSTRY IN TAMILNADU

Textile industry is one of the traditionally well-developed industries in Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu has a strong production base and accounts for about 1/3 rd of Textiles production in the country. The net value addition in Textile industry in Tamil Nadu is about 37.5 per cent, the highest in the country. The Textile mills are concentrated in Coimbatore, Tirupur, Salem, Palladam, Karur and Erode. Tamil Nadu has around 3, 50, 000 power looms manufacturing cotton fabrics and accounts for about 30 per cent of India's export of textiles products. The Erode district in Tamil Nadu is well known for marketing of textile products of handloom, powerloom and readymade garments.

The Textile Industry of Tamil Nadu has a significant presence in the National and State economy. It is the forerunner in Industrial development and in providing massive employment in the State. Handloom, Powerloom, Spinning, Processing, Garment and Hosiery are the various sectors of the Textile Industry in Tamil Nadu. It is the largest economic activity next only to Agriculture in providing direct and indirect employment. Handloom Sector occupies a place of pride in preserving the country's heritage and culture and plays a vital role in the economy of the country. It has a long tradition par excellence in its craftsmanship. The Powerloom Sector in Tamil Nadu has also been playing an important role in meeting the clothing needs of the people. The Powerloom Sector in Tamil Nadu is next only to Maharashtra in terms of number of looms. The Textiles Sector in Tamil Nadu is predominantly in the private sector, spinning oriented and labour-intensive because of the preponderance of the decentralized sector in most of the segments of the industry. The Textile Industry has a very important role to play in the industrial field with regard to employment potential, overall economic and commercial activities. This Industry enables the Central and State Governments to earn substantial revenue besides foreign exchange through exports. During the year 2004-05, 3223.52 million kg of yarn was produced in the country, of which, Tamil Nadu contributed 1261.98 million kg of yarn. Successively this State is the number one producer of various varieties of yarn in the country.

The Government should devise suitable measures to facilitate that the Textile Industry grows at the rate of 18 per cent per annum. The Government should also take efforts to address the labour laws related issues aiming at achieving the above growth. The required skilled labour force should be generated by creating new infrastructure and also by strengthening the existing ones.