Known as the land of varied culture and arts, rich craftsmanship and lustrous fabrics are synonymous to India. India is among the leading producers of a variety of yarns, and the fifth largest exporter of textile and apparel globally.
Growth drivers of the Indian textile industry
The textile industry of India amounts to 12 % share in overall exports of the country and is forecasted 28% CAGR as per sector. Reasons for growth in cotton industry :
• Raw materials that are abundantly available • Organized retail and e commerce • Skilled labour • Entire value chain availability from fiber to fabric Major yarns of India
Owing to the climatic conditions majority of yarns are mass produced in India placing the country among the the global leaders in producing yarns like : • Cotton • Silk
• Jute
• Wool
• Linen
Cotton yarn
Cotton yarn is a natural filament yarn derived from the pods of the Gossypium plant, and is considered to be the backbone of the garment industry. The cotton produced alone amounts for 5% of the country’s annual GDP. Grown in warm and humid climates, major cotton producing states in India are Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Punjab.
India is the only country to produce all four varieties of cotton, namely Egyptian cotton, Asian cotton, American upland cotton and tree cotton. Processing of cotton into yarns:
Cotton yarn processing is an excruciating process and involves these steps:
• Ginning - process of removing the cotton fiber from the pod and filtering out impurities like lint, and seed.
• Carding - the process of segregating cotton fibers
• Combing - aligning the fibers in one direction
• Drawing -pulling of the fibers to form long ropes called sliver
• Roving - pulling and combination of fibers by s or ztwist
• Spinning - introduction of sliver to the frame to be spun into threads
• Weaving - feeding warp and weft yarns to weave a fabric
Major cotton clients of India
Changes in the trade policies have seen many FDIs as well as rise in cotton textile export.
The major foreign clients of cotton textile export are various reputed foreign retailers and brands like Carrefour, Gap, H&M, JC Penney, Levi Strauss, Macy's, Marks & Spencer, Metro Group, Nike, Reebok, Tommy Hilfiger and Walmart
Wool yarn
Wool, a textile fiber obtained from sheep and other animals is among the major produce in India making it the seventh largest wool producer in the world.
Wool produce of India can be divided into ten major categories, and organised and decentralised sector
Organised sector
• Composite mills
• Combing units
• Worsted and non-worsted spinning units
• Knitwear and woven garment units
• Machine-made carpets manufacturing units
Decentralized sector
• Hosiery and knitting units
• Power loom units
• Hand-made carpets, drugget and namadah units
• Independent dyeing and process houses
Woollen yarn spinning process
Wool is spun by following these steps:
• Skirting - removal of fleece from the sheep
• Cleaning - the process of cleaning the thus gathered fleece thoroughly, involves many processes like scouring and carbonising
• Blending - once dried, the process of forming long filaments begins by blending fibres together
• Carding - The long thick filament formed is pulled and twisted
• Roving - long bales of filament are then wound to form thinner roving to be fed to the frame
• Spinning - this process is done to form the wool as singular long filament that we see everyday
Jute yarn
The jute industry is one of the major industries native to eastern India particularly West Bengal and provides livelihood to more than 4 million farm families.
A crop of humid tropical climate, there are more than 94 composite jute mills in India located in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. Jute yarn spinning process
The jute spinning is conducted by these processes: • Batching - selection and division of particular fibers into batches • Softening - processing of individual batches to soften the fiber • Piling - again the collection and division into piles • Carding - pulling and blending of fibers to form a long filament • Spinning - twisting and pulling to form yarns • Weaving - weaving into fabric Jute classification
Jute comes in three varieties based on time and quality of cultivation: • White raw jute • Tessa raw jute • Mesta raw jute
Silk yarn of India
Derived from the silkworm, silk is considered one of the most expensive textiles in the world.
India is the second largest producer of silk globally contributing to 18% of the total silk produce and displays an export growth of silk textiles is 45.5%
The silk producing states are Karnataka, West Bengal, Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh
Types of silk
India is the only country to produce all five varieties of silk :
• Mulberry silk
• Temple tasser silk
• Temperate tasser sik
• Eri
• Mugga
Mulberry silk
The traditional silk produced by the saliva of silk worms feeding on mulberry leaves, this is silk in its purest form.
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