Explain the importance of textile industry in India since ancient times.
How do Multinational Companies manage to keep the cost of productio
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Answer:
INTRODUCTION
The Indian textile industry has a significant presence in the economy as well as in the international textile economy. Its contribution to the Indian economy is manifested in terms of its contribution to the industrial production, employment generation and foreign exchange earnings. It contributes 20 percent of industrial production, 9 percent of excise collections, 18 percent of employment in the industrial sector, nearly 20 percent to the countrys total export earning and 4 percent to the Gross Domestic Product.
In human history, past and present can never ignore the importance of textile in a civilization decisively affecting its destinies, effectively changing its social scenario. A brief but thoroughly researched feature on Indian textile culture.
HISTORY OF TEXTILE INDUSTRY
India has been well known for her textile goods since very ancient times. The traditional textile industry of India was virtually decayed during the colonial regime. However, the modern textile industry took birth in India in the early nineteenth century when the first textile mill in the country was established at fort gloster near Calcutta in 1818. The cotton textile industry, however, made its real beginning in Bombay, in 1850s. The first cotton textile mill of Bombay was established in 1854 by a Parsi cotton merchant then engaged in overseas and internal trade. Indeed, the vast majority of the early mills were the handiwork of Parsi merchants engaged in yarn and cloth trade at home and Chinese and African markets.
The first cotton mill in Ahmedabad, which was eventually to emerge as a rival centre to Bombay, was established in 1861. The spread of the textile industry to Ahmedabad was largely due to the Gujarati trading class.
The cotton textile industry made rapid progress in the second half of the nineteenth century and by the end of the century there were 178 cotton textile mills; but during the year 1900 the cotton textile industry was in bad state due to the great famine and a number of mills of Bombay and Ahmedabad were to be closed down for long periods.
Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS)
At present, the only scheme through which Government can assist the industry is the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) which provides for reimbursing 5% interest on the loans/finance raised from designated financial institutions for bench marked projects of modernisation. IDBI, SIDBI, IFCI have been designed as nodal agencies for large and medium small scale industry and jute industry respectively. They have co-opted 148 leading commercial banks/cooperative banks and financial institutions like State Finance Corporations and State Industrial Development Corporation etc.