chapter viii wool & wollen textiles industry - Ministry of Textiles

ministry of textiles
has shown positive growth and the
income level of weavers has improved.
The handloom fabric production has been
very impressive and growth has been at
the rate of 6% to 7% in the beginning of
the 11 th Plan. The subsequent economic
downturn has affected all the sectors in
India and abroad and handloom was no
exception. The production had declined
nominally in 2008-09. Now, there is a
positive sign and production has shown
positive growth. The export of handloom
products has also shown a growth of
more than 32% in 2010-11 as compare to
2009-10.
In the cluster approach, efforts were
made to cover groups of 100 weavers
to 25000 weavers through different
cluster sizes for their integrated and
holistic development. Aggressive
marketing initiative through marketing
events (600-700 events per year) has
helped weavers and their cooperative
societies to understand the market trend
and consumer choice, besides selling
the products directly to the customers.
For a focused attention on the sector,
the Ministry has started celebrating
‘Handloom Week’ every year.
The handloom forms a precious part of
the generational legacy and exemplifies
the richness and diversity of our
country and the artistry of the weavers.
Tradition of weaving by hand is a part
of the country’s cultural ethos. As an
economic activity, handloom is the 2 nd
largest employment provider next only
to agriculture. The sector about 23.77
lakh handlooms provides employment
to 43.31 lakh persons. Of which, 10%
are scheduled castes, 18% belong to
scheduled tribes, 45% OBC and 27%
are from other Castes. Production in
the handloom sector recorded a figure
of 6949(P) million sqr.meters in the year
2010-11, which is about 23.23% over
the production figure of 5493 million
sqr. meters recorded in the year 2003-
04. During 2011-12 production in the
handloom sector is reported to be 5178
million sqr. meters (April – Dec.,2011)
and is given at table10.1
Year
Table 10.1
Cloth Production by Handloom Sector
Cloth Production
by Handloom
Share of Handloom
in the total cloth
production
Ratio of Handloom
to Powerloom
(in terms of cloth)
Total Cloth
Production*
2003-04 5493 16.2 1:4.91 33874
2004-05 5722 16.1 1:4.95 35573
2005-06 6108 15.9 1:5.01 38390
2006-07 6536 15.9 1:5.03 41161
2007-08 6943 16.0 1:4.97 43265
2008-09 6677 15.9 1:5.04 42121
2009-10 6806 14.9 1:5.41 45819
2010-11 6949 14.6 1:5.59 47083
2011-12 (upto 5178 (P) 23110
Dec.2011)
* The total cloth production includes Handloom, Powerloom and Mill Sector excluding hosiery, khadi, wool and silk.
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