Cotton was the most important commodity traded in Ancient India to the Modern India. The origin of cotton textile industry dates back to 1818 AD when the first cotton textile mill was started at Fort Gloster near Calcutta but the first modern cotton textile mill was established in Bombay in 1854 by the local Parsi entrepreneur with the name of Bombay Spinning & Weaving Company.
The Cotton Textile centres in India are distributed in four regions: Western Region, Southern Region, Northern Region and Eastern Region. The states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and West Bengal have very high degree of concentration of this industry and especially in the three cities of Bombay, Ahmedabad and Coimbatore.
Geographical Distribution of Cotton Textile Industry in India
1. Maharashtra
It is the leading producer of cotton textile in India. Mumbai is called as ‘Cottonpolis of India’. The textile industry has also spread to Sholapur, Kolhapur, Pune, Jalgaon, Akola, Sangali, Nagpur, Satara, Wardha, Aurangabad and Amravati.
2. Gujarat
It is the second largest producer of cotton textiles after Maharashtra. Ahmedabad is called ‘Manchester of India & Boston of East’ and it is also second largest centre of cotton textile industry after Mumbai. The other important centres are- Surat, Vadodara, Bharauch, Bhavnagar, Nadiad, Porbandar, Rajkot, Navsari, mauri and Viramgam.
3. Tamil Nadu
Chennai, Tirunelveli, Madurai, Tuticorin, Salem, Virudhnagar and Polachi are the major cotton textile centres. Coimbatore is called ‘Manchester of South India’ because it is the most important cotton textile centre.
4. Uttar Pradesh
Kanpur, Etawah, Modinagar, Moradabad, Bareilly, Hathras, Agra, Meerut and Varanasi are the major cotton textile producing centres in the state. Kanpur is called ‘Manchester of Uttar Pradesh’.
5. Karnataka
Bangalore, Belgaum, Mangalore, Chitradurga, Galbarga and Mysore are the major cotton textile producing centres in the state.
6. Madhya Pradesh
Indore, Gwalior, Mandasaur, Dewas, Ujjain, Nagda, Bhopal, Jabalpur and Ratlam are the major cotton textile producing centres in the state.
7. Rajasthan
Kota, Jaipur, Sriganganagar, Bhilwara, Bhavanimandi, Udaipur and Kishangunj are the major cotton textile producing centres in the state.
8. West Bengal
The major cotton textile producing centres in the state are Kolkata, Howrah, Serampore, Shyamanagar, Saikia, Murshidabad, Hugli and Panihar.
