India has a long tradition in Textiles and at one time the country’s manually operated textile machines were amongst the best in the world. Budgetary concessions, rationalization of duty structure and assistance under the Technology Up gradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) have paid rich dividends in the past. During 2004-05, production of fabric touched a peak of 45,378 million square meters. In the year 2005-06 up to November, production registered a further growth of 9% over the corresponding period of the previous year. In case of export of textiles, after near stagnation in 2004-05, when total export of textile was US$ 13,038.64 million, better prospects seems to be emerging in the current year. During April-November 2005 textile exports were US$ 9,309.81 million, up 8.21% during the corresponding period of the previous year.
Jute textile manufacturing is the most prominent industry in West Bengal due to availability of raw jute in the state. At present there are 59 Jute mills in West Bengal. Main jute products are Hessian, sacking, jute bags, and other items produced by jute. Most of the jute mills are located on the banks of river Hooghly near Kolkata. West Bengal is the leader and pioneer in the country for the manufacturing of Jute textiles. West Bengal’s provisional data for the production of Jute in 2005-06 (April to September), as produced by the West Bengal Economic Review, is 6,24,000 tonnes. |
