Spinning success: One-third of India’s textile business is in Tamil Nadu

‘Policies of successive governments have sustained the industry’

From saris and dhotis to bedspreads and kitchen towels, industries in Tamil Nadu make them all.

Boasting at least one-third of the textile business in the country, with 2,032 spinning mills (total mills in India: 3,542), 5.63 lakh powerlooms (India: 24.86 lakh), 1.55 lakh handlooms (India: 23.77 lakh), and nearly 15,000 garment units (close to one lakh units nationally), Tamil Nadu is regarded as numero uno in textiles and garments. It also supplies to global brands.

The journey started over a century ago when spinning mills came up in a few pockets in the State. Though cotton production has dwindled over the years, the industry has developed and the State now houses clusters of the entire textile value chain –spinning, weaving, processing, and garmenting.