Declining Number of Textile Mills
The number of texctile mills in the organised sector is steadily declining over last two years. The decline is evident in both composite and spinning sectors. However, there has been no substantial reduction in production of yarn or fabric in the same period - leading one to believe that the industry is going through a consolidation phase.
As some mills are closed down - new ones are coming up, leading to no fall in quality or quantity of yarn/fabrics.
The number of textile mills in the organised sector declined to 1,787 in 2003-04 from 1,875 during 2002-03. The textile commissioner removed 92 mills from the mill list in 2003-04. Already 46 of them have closed down. In 2003-04, four new mills were set up. Owing to the closure of composite mills, the number of looms dipped to 88,110 from 1,19,180 in 2003 and 1,23,970 in 2002. The Southern India Mills’ Association (SIMA) annual report says, the installed capacity in the organised sector, especially in ring spinning, fell to 34.02 mn spindles as on March 31 as against 36.10 mn spindles in the previous year.
September 28' 2004
