Essay on the growth of Woollen Textile Industry in India

Woollen textile industry is one of the oldest industries of India. The Aryans knew the use of wool as far back as 5000 B.C.

Woollen textile manufacturing was a handicraft and then a cottage industry run on very small scale during the historical times. The Indian blankets, lohis, ‘namdas’, shawls etc. were popular in different countries in the past. The first woollen mill ‘Lalimli’ was set up at Kanpur in 1876.

Later in 1881 in Punjab (Dhariwal) another woollen mill was started. Mumbai in 1882 and Bangalore in 1886 followed suit. The industry developed steadily with the increase in population in the country.

A recent survey shows that presently, there are over 625 big and small woollen mills spread over the different parts of the country. There are thousands of hosiery units in the country manufacturing a variety of woollens.

The major concentration of the industry is in Punjab, Maharashtra and U.P these states produce 75% of the total output.

Gujarat, Karnataka, West Bengal and J & K also have woollen mills.

Punjab .

Punjab is the leader. There are over 250 small woollen mills in Punjab. Dhariwal in Gurdaspur district, which is an old centre of the industry, is well known. Amritsar and Ludhiana are other centres. The industry depends upon wool from H.P, J 8c K and Australia. The industry gets power from Bhalcra Dam. Labour is available in these centres.

Maharashtra.

Maharashtra is another important state of India where woollen mills exist. These are 31 mills. The majority are in Mumbai. Mumbai being a port, it is easy to import wool from Australia, U.K., Italy, etc. Superior quality fabrics are manufactured including blended fibre.

U.P.

Kanpur is the most outstanding centre. Mirzapur, Varanasi, Agra, Tanakpur are other centres. There are nearly 40 woollen mills in the state.

Gujarat .

There are 10 mills in Gujarat, Jamnagar, Ahmadabad and Vadodra are the main centres.

Haryana.

Panipat, Bhiwani, Faridabad, Gurgaon.

Rajasthan.

Bikaner, Bhilwara, Alwar, Sikar, Jaipur, Pushkar and Ajmer.

Karnataka.

Bangalore, Ballery (3 mills).

West Bengal .

Kolkata and Howrah (6 mills).

J & K.

Srinagar.

H.P.

Kulu.

Tamil Nadu.

Chennai and Salem.

The industry manufactures different types of woollens like Patti, carpets, hosiery goods, cloth, blankets, lohis, shawls etc.

Carpets are made in Mirzapur, Gopiganj, Agra (U.P), Srinagar (J.K.), Amritsar (Punjab), Panipat (Haryana), Jaipur, Bikancr (Rajasthan), Eluru (A.P), Chennai (T.N.).

There are certain problems which the industry presently faces. These are :

I. Shortage of raw material.

II. Lack of modern machines.

III. Poor quality products.

IV Lack of market due to tropical and sub-tropical climate of the country.

V. Low production

Export markets.

The USA, CIS, East European countries, Canada, Australia, Germany, Denmark, France, Belgium, Netherlands, West Asian countries are major buyers of Indian woollens. The volume and direction of trade keeps on fluctuating with time.