Complete information on Woollen Textiles

Although India has long historical tradition of making woolen textiles in the past, the first woolen textile mill, on modern lines, was set up at Kanpur in 1876. Another mill was started at Dhariwal in 1881. Subsequently new mills were started at Mumbai in 1882 and at Bangalore in 1886. But the growth of the industry was not very encouraging until the Second World War which gave a boost up to the industry.

The industry made a rapid progress during the plan­ning era and the number of mills increased from 16 in 1950-51 to 225 in 1990. These mills have over 4, 75,000 spindles and provide employment to over 5 lakh workers (1 lakh workers in organised sector).

The decentralised sector of the industry has about 2,500 power looms and 1,200 handlooms. Of the 225 mills, 190 are spinning and 35 composite mills. These mills produce both fabrics and yarns. Impor­tant manufacturing units include Mumbai Fine Worsted Manufactures, Thane (170 looms), Raymond, Woolen Mills Ltd., Mumbai (196 looms); Binny Ltd., Bangalore (182 looms); New Egerton Woolen Mills Ltd., Dhariwal (230 looms); Kanpur Woolen Mills Ltd., Kanpur (250 looms); and Shree Digvijaya Woolen Mills, Jamnagar (81 looms).

Distribution

Punjab, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh are the major producers of woolen textiles in the coun­try. This together account for about three-fourth of the total spindle age capacity. Gujarat, Karnataka, West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir are other important producers of woolen goods. Besides the organised mill units, these states also have a well-established decentralised power loom and handloom industry.

1. Punjab

Punjab is the foremost producer of the woolen goods in the country. There are 50 mills with about 40 per cent of the total spindle age capacity. Dhariwal is the most important woolen textile cen­tre which houses the largest woolen textile mill of the country (New Egerton Woollen Mills).

It spe­cializes in the manufacture of worsteds, tweeds, surges and flannels and superior quality blankets. Other important centers include Amritsar, Ludhiana, Chandigarh and Kharar. Ludhiana specialises in hosiery and Knitwear while worsteds, tweeds, surges and flannels are produced at Amritsar and Khara. Firozpur is the largest trading centre of raw wool in the country. The state mainly obtains its wool from Jammu-Kashmir and Kumaun areas. It has the ad­vantage of a large market, cheap hydel power, prox­imity of raw wool and enterprising entrepreneur.

2. Maharashtra

Maharashtra occupies second place in woolen textile production in the country. It has 31 woolen mills which mainly utilise imported raw wool from Australia, Italy and U.K. Mumbai is the main centre which has about 30 per cent of the total spindle age capacity of the country. Main products include serge’s, blankets, and worsteds. The state enjoys facility of import and export trade through Mumbai port and the industrial inertia provided by the cotton textile industry.

3. Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh has the credit of starting the first Woolen textile mill of the country at Kanpur in 1876. It was mainly to meet the demand of the armed forces. Besides Kanpur other important centers of industry include Shahjahanpur, Mirzapur, Bhadohi and Agra. The products include serge’s, worsteds, flannels, tweeds and carpets. Mirzapur, Bhadohi, Gopiganj, Khamana and Agra are famous for woolen carpets which are exported to foreign countries.

4. Others

Other important centres of woollen textile industry include Jamnagar, Vadodara and Ahmadabad in Gujarat; Bangalore and Bellary in Karnataka; Kolkata and Haora in West Bengal; Pushkar, Ajmer, Bikaner, Jaipur, Alwar, Bhilwara, Sikar and Nagaur in Rajasthan; Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh; Panipat,

Faridabad, Gurgaon and Bahadurgarh in Haryana and Sri Nagar in Jammu and Kashmir. Shawl and blankets made of pashmina wool in Kashmir Valley have worldwide market.

Production

The total production of woolen fabrics in 1950-51 was 6.1 million meters which increased to 28.7 million meters in 1981-82 showing a rise of over 370 per cent during last 31 years.

Carpets and Namdahs

Making of woolen carpet is an important cottage industry of the country. Carpet weaving is mostly undertaken by small establishments wherein the skill of hand-knitting is important. There are over 280 units engaged in the manufacture of differ­ent varieties and types of woolen carpets employing over 3,000 workers.

These carpets are mainly made of hand-spun yarn from indigenous wool. But now mill-spun yarn from imported fine wool is also being used and mixed with the indigenous wool to improve the quality of the product.

The important centers of carpet making are Mirzapur, Bhadohi, Gopiganj, Shahjahanpur, Khamana and Agra in Uttar Pradesh; Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Deogarh and Govindgarh in Rajasthan; Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir; Amritsar in Pun­jab; Panipat in Haryana; Danapur in Bihar; Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh; Eluru and Warangal in Andhra Pradesh; Bellary, Mysore and Bangalore in Karnataka; and Chennai and Wallanghpet in Tamil Nadu. In Kashmir Namdah is a type of handmade felt consist­ing of raw wool and cotton which is in great demand throughout the country.

Trade

Worsted, wool-blended readymade garments, hosiery, knitwear, drug gets, rugs, carpets, shawls, blankets and namdahs are the main items of export from India. During 1979-80 the value of exports of drug gets, carpets and namdahs amounted to Rs. 45.6 crores; hosiery Rs. 25 crores; and worsted and knit­ting wool Rs. 3.2 crores.

In 1995-96 India exported Rs. 2,089.34 crores worth of carpets and floor cov­erings. The United States, Canada, Germany, France, Russia, Bahrein, Saudi Arabia, U.A.R., Sudan and Australia are the main buyers of Indian woolen goods.

India imports sizeable quantity of raw wool to manufacture woolen textiles in the organised mill sector. Imported good quality raw wool is often mixed with the indigenous wool to improve the quality of woollen goods. Australia is the main supplier of raw wools. Argentina and Nepal provide the small quantities. During 1995-96 India imported Rs. 605.27 crores worth of wool and ani­mal hair.

Problems

Woolen textile industry is confronted with many problems like inferior quality and shortage of raw material, low demand, low productivity, lack of modernization and mechanisation. Cheap labour is the only advantage for the country. But the use of child labour in carpet industry is a distressing factor against which human right organisations have launched strong protest.