Maharashtra has been an integral part of India’s textile sector, contributing to 60% of cotton mills in the 1870s.
India, boasting one of the largest textile industries globally, holds a significant market share of 4% in textiles and apparel. It contributes 2% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and provides employment to over 45 million people directly, making it the second-largest employer in the country. Projections indicate that by 2030, the industry will reach $250 billion in textile production. Over the past five years, the textile industry has gained momentum due to various central government strategies aimed at bolstering India’s position as a global textile producer. This is based on the 5F vision: “Farm to Fibre to Factory to Fashion to Foreign.”
Initiatives such as the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Textiles, Kasturi Cotton Bharat programme, National Technical Textiles Mission (NTTM), SAMARTH, and PM Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks Scheme have led to significant transformations in the textile industry. India aims to achieve US$100 billion in exports by 2030, with Maharashtra emerging as a key player in driving this growth. Maharashtra contributes significantly to the national textile industry, accounting for 10.4% of total textile and apparel production and employing over 10% of the country’s textile workforce.
The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) has played a crucial role in accelerating the state’s textile industry growth by establishing 11 exclusive textile parks in strategic locations such as Amravati, Thane, Solapur, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Nashik, Pune, and Nandurbar (as of 2020). Since the establishment of the Bombay Spinning and Weaving in 1854, Maharashtra has been an integral part of India’s textile sector, contributing to 60% of cotton mills in the 1870s.
Geographically, Maharashtra benefits from fertile soil for cotton cultivation, leading the national cotton acreage with 39.41 lakh ha, and has access to an extensive coastline with a total of 50 ports. Leveraging these advantages, efforts are underway to establish a garment trading hub in Mumbai, aiming to compete with China’s Guangzhou and Turkey’s Istanbul.
While Maharashtra possesses inherent qualities that enhance its potential as a textile hub, a strong focus on policies and interventions is essential to bolster infrastructural capacities and support the state’s growth as a global textile hub.