The Indian textile industry
India’s textile
industry is intrinsically connected to the ancient cultures and traditions of
our country. It is one of the oldest industries and has a close linkage with
agriculture --- cotton and jute are farm products that are used as raw
materials.
Earliest-known
technology: Scholars are of the
opinion that a textile industry existed during the Indus Valley Civilisation
and textile production techniques came to the West only 2,000 years later.
Textiles were initially made of naturally derived materials such as cotton,
silk and wool, apart from bast and leaf fibres. The most basic technique was to
spin the fibre into yarn and then hand-weave it into fabric. In many parts of
India, the tools used for these processes were, and continue to be, made of
wood.
Changes over
centuries: From being able to
make a simple piece of cloth, artisanship bloomed as weavers learnt to make
patterns and designs. Mughal rule brought about much prosperity in the textile
sector as artisans received many incentives and complements for their handiwork
in various courts. The industrial revolution’s impact found its way to India
via colonization and Indian textiles that relied on traditional skilled and
hand-based techniques faced a major setback.
The need to make more
products in less time grew with the advent of machines and thus cotton mills
came into existence. Cotton mills are large establishments that use machines to
spin yarn and weave cloth. The first mill was established at Fort Gloster near
Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1818. But the real beginning of modern textiles in
India came several years later in Bombay (now Mumbai) when the Bombay Spinning
and Weaving Company was established on July 7, 1854 by Cowaszee Nanabhoy Davar
and his associates. While the industry flourished for a while, famines towards
the end of the 1800s led to the closure of several mills.
World War II and the
Swadeshi Movement provided a much-needed stimulus to the textile industry. By
1945, there were 417 mills employing 5.10 lakh workers. After independence, the
cotton textile industry grew significantly under the Indian government’s
five-year plans.
The concept of
‘fashion-design’ came about only in the 1980s and even then, most designers
focused on ‘one-of-a-kind’ garments. The establishment of the National
Institute of Fashion Technology by the Indian government in 1986 served as a
catalyst for a new era of fashion designing. Economic liberalisation brought
global pop culture to India, which led to a more widespread pool of designers
and the introduction of ‘ready-to-wear’ clothing in the 1990s. Thus trend
intensified further as more and more western companies started to move their
apparel production to India. These changes brought about new requirements and
technology evolved to meet the new demands.
The
Textile Industry today: Cotton continues to be the main fabric used, contributing to about 60%
of the Indian textile industry. After cotton comes silk and the third is jute.
Synthetic fabrics such as petroleum-based polyester, nylon and cellulose-based
fabrics such as rayon, viscose, modal and lyocell are also used in India.
Today, yarn is also made from recycled plastic bottles!
In terms of
technology, machine-made cloth is most prevalent. Handloom production produces
fabrics in smaller quantities and is far more expensive than machine-made
cloth. The advent of synthetic fabrics and the varied advantages they offer
have also had an impact on the demand for handloom, making the sector even less
prominent today. Still the government of India has adopted several measures to
protect artisans and preserve domestic weaving and milling industries.
The pace quickens: The textile industry began to witness a steady
transition from hand-operated machines that could churn out textiles programmed
to meet different requirements. Here are some of the path-breaking innovations
that took place in the industry:
* Laser printing made printing designs on a cloth a lot easier, more
precise and less time-consuming.
* Knitting machines eased workload and could churn out larger stretches
of fabric in shorter time periods. Today, they have grown to become an
essential component of the textile industry.
* Pleating machines made the pleating process less cumbersome and labour
intensive. Pleating is a permanent fold on fabrics that used to be done
manually, and the process was expensive. The advent of machines helped reduce
cost immensely. This led to pleated fabrics becoming a trend and hence the need
for further innovation to sustain their profitability.
Did you know?
* The Harappan invented the needle,
which was later reinvented during Roman times.
* The market for Indian textiles is
expected to be worth more than $209 billion by 2029.
* India is the second largest
producer of polyester and viscose globally.
* Power looms supplied more than
70% of the textile industry’s requirements in 2017 --- another indication that
the handloom sector is dying.
