Question

State any three problems faced by the cotton industry in India.

Answer 1

1. Shortage of Raw Material: There is a shortage of raw material, particularly of long-staple cotton, which is imported from Pakistan, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Egypt, the USA, and Peru.
2. Sick Industrial Units: The cotton industry faces constant threat of sickness and consequent closure because of:
   1. uncertainty of raw material;
   2. 16w productivity of machines and labour; 
   3. increasing competition from the power loom sector;
   4. lack of modernisation, and
   5. management problems.
      These sick units require heavy financial investments for replacement and modernisation purposes. Many of these sick units have been taken over by the government.
3. Loss oF Foreign Markets: The Indian cotton textile industry has lost some of the foreign markets because of continued increase in the cost of production and the development of cotton textile industry in a number of Asian countries like China, Japan and African countries. The Indian cotton textile goods face stiff competition in foreign markets from Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan, whose goods are cheaper and better in quality.
4. Inadequate Production: The cotton textile industry faces inadequate production because of the lack of adequate and unfailing power supply and also because of competition with the decentralised sector. Thus, it has to face stiff competition from other Asian countries.
5. Shortage of Power: The cotton textile mills are facing an acute shortage of power. Supplies of coal are difficult to obtain, and frequent cuts in electricity and load shedding affect the industry badly. This leads to loss of man hours, low production, and loss in the mills.
6. Obsolete Machinery: In India, most of the cotton textile mills are working with old and obsolete machinery. According to an estimate, in India, over 60 percent of the spindles are more than 30 years old. The automatic looms account for only 18 percent of the total number of looms in the country, against the world average of 62 percent and 100 percent in the United States. Obsolete machinery results in low output and poor quality of goods, as a result of which Indian textile goods are not able to face competition in the international market.