How The Cotton & Handloom Industry Is Booming

The handloom industry is a very critical component of the Indian economy due to its noncapital intensive nature, great potential for exports, the attraction of foreign currency and direct ties with the rural economy.

- Nidhi Yadav, Founder, AKS Clothings

India is not only the second-largest manufacturer of textiles and garments in the world but is also the fifth-largest textile exporter including apparel, technical products and home use fabrics. This industry contributes ~2.3 per cent to the GDP of India, ~12 per cent to national exports and ~13 per cent to the total industrial production of the country. The success and vastness of the Indian textile industry mean that it provides employment to a large number of people. According to the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), 45 million workers are employed by the textile industry and 3.5 million of them are handloom workers.

The 4th All India Handloom Census of 2019-20 suggests that a large majority of the handloom workers are women and they belong to the age group of 18-35 years. Many of them are engaged in pre-loom and post-loom activities and do it for an additional source of income apart from doing household chores. A large chunk of the handloom workforce hails from underprivileged backgrounds and was therefore severely impacted by the arrival of the pandemic last year. The effect is only temporary.

The handloom industry is a very critical component of the Indian economy due to its non-capital intensive nature, great potential for exports, the attraction of foreign currency and direct ties with the rural economy. Moreover, other sectors such as logistics, finance and marketing also benefit significantly from the operations of the textile industry.