30% textile units shut as of 2010-11, led to huge job losses: Assocham

Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Punjab, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh together accounted for about 88% of the non-operating textile factories, says study

About 30% of total textile factories across India were non-operational as of 2010-11 which led to massive job losses in the sector, a study by industry body Assocham has found.

 

"Of the total 17,987 textile factories across India, 12,688 factories were operational and around 5,300 were non-operational as of 2010-11," the study said.

 

Consequently, the share of jobs lost due to shutdown of operations of textile factories also rose from six% in 2000-01 to 42% in 2010-11, it found.

 

"This is a matter of grave concern as organised textile sector, apart from creating 14 lakh jobs, also contributes four% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 10.1% to the total exports earnings," Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said.

 

Among states, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Punjab, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh together accounted for about 88% of the non-operating textile factories, the study found.

 

Tamil Nadu alone accounts for about 54% of the non-operating textile units followed by Gujarat (16%), Maharashtra (10%), Punjab (four%) and UP (three%), it revealed.

 

Tamil Nadu has also incurred maximum job losses of over two lakh followed by Gujarat which has lost over one lakh employment opportunities due to non-operation of textile factories.

 

"While the total number of textile factories grew at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of five% during 2000-01 and 2010-11, non-operational textile factories grew at a whopping 23% and the textile factories under operation grew at a CAGR of a just two%," Rawat said.

 

Gujarat has registered maximum growth of about 39% CAGR in non-operational textile units, from over 290 factories to over 2,800 factories during 2000-01 and 2010-11, followed by Punjab (35%), Haryana (32%), Himachal Pradesh (26%) and Tamil Nadu (25%).