WOOLLEN TEXTILES

Woollen textile is one of the oldest industries of India. During the ancient and medieval periods woollen clothes were manufactured at the cottage industry level- The modem woollen textile industry started with the establishment of lLal Imli’aX Kanpur in 1876. It was followed by the setting up of ‘DhariwaT at Punjab in 1881. Subsequently woollen mills were established in Mumbai (1882) and Bangalore (1886). The industry made tremendous progress after Independence. At present there are 625 big and small woollen textile factories in the country.

The main concentration of woollen textile industry is found in Punjab, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh. Other stales which are producing woollen goods are Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, and West Bengal (Fig. 11.6).

In Punjab, there are more than 260 small and big mills which are located mainly in Amritsar, Dhariwal, Kharar and Ludhiana. In Maharashtra, Mumbai is tire leading producer having 45 woollen factories. In Uttar Pradesh, woollen factories arc located at Kanpur, Agra, Mirzapur, Modinagar,

Shahjahanpur, and Varanasi. In Gujarat, Ahmedabad,Jamnagar, Kalol, and Vadodra are the main producers of woollen goods. In Haryana, Bahadurgarh, Faridabad, Gurgaon, and Panipat are the centres of woollen textile production, hi Rajasthan, Alwar, Beawar, Bikaner, Bhilwara Jaipur, Jodhpur, Sikar and Nagaur are the important woollen textile centres. Bangalore, Kolkata, Haora, Srinagar, Kullu (Himachal Pradesh), Salem and Chennai are the other woollen textile centres. This industry provides employment to 27 lakh workers in the wide spectrum of activities (India 2012, p. 726).

India is not self sufficient in quality wool production. Good quality wool is, however, imported from Australia. The important items of export are blankets, caps, carpets, cardigans, druggets, gabbas, hosiery, jerseys, mufflers, Namdas, pullovers, shawls, and socks. These goods are exported to USA, UK, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Russia, South West Asian, and African countries.