Jute, textiles, sugar, and spices

India is diverse in every aspect, such as different languages, foods, and spices celebrating different functions of different religious cultures following different trends and traditions. India is known as a land of diversities. The famous Indian textile known around the world is khadi and is also known as the pride of India. Jute is the golden fibre of India derived from the jute plant; its durable toughness and rough fabric are commonly used in making rugs and carpets. Spices of India are also very popular around the world, such as cardamom, cloves, cumin, mustard seeds, and many more. Sugar industries had been set up for a long time in India and processing sugar from sugarcane.

Textile industries in India

One of the oldest industries in India’s textile sector in the Indian economy. After agriculture, the textile industry in India created available employment opportunities meant for both skilled and unskilled labourers. The textile industry in India is extremely varied, hand-spun and hand-woven on one side, while for large scale production, many mills sector on another side. The textile industry is also linked to the agriculture sector for raw materials such as cotton. It is also linked to chemical-based and machinery-based industries; chemical-based industries provide dyes to colour the clothes, and machinery-based industries provide machines to increase the production of clothes.

The decline of the Indian textile industry:

In which century did the Indian textile industry decline? During the 19th century, when India was under the control of Britishers, the textile industry started declining because Britain started developing textile industries in Britain to compete with Indian clothes. Indian textiles now had to compete with British textiles. Exporting textiles from India to Britain now became difficult; the textile producers in Britain, with the help of the government, imposed high taxes on Indian exports of textiles. Because Britishers had their colonies in many parts of the world, selling Indian clothes in those colonies also became difficult, like in South Africa, one of the ancient markets of Indian textile.

Trends in Indian fashion and textile industries the cotton textile industry:

In ancient India, clothes were made by hand spinning and handloom weaving, but after the 18th-century, power looms started dominating; this made the textile workers unemployed because the productivity of power looms was very high.  In Mumbai, in 1854, the first textile industry was established. Traditional textile industries suffered a lot due to trends in the Indian fashion and textile industries during the colonial period. Indian textile workers could not compete with the mill made clothes from England; the clothes from England were a lot cheaper than the Indian clothes.

The cotton textile industries started shifting to Gujarat and Maharashtra because-

• Availability of raw material
• Availability of market
• Transportation was available easily like international ports for export
• Cheap labour was available 

The jute textile:

India is the largest producer of jute products and raw jute. India is after Bangladesh and is the second-largest exporter as well as producer.

Most of the jute mills are located in West Bengal, mainly near the banks of the Hugli river in a narrow belt. The first jute mill was set up in 1855 in Kolkata at Rishra. After the partition,n the jute industries faced a setback in India because most of the jute producing area came under east Pakistan, currently known as Bangladesh.

Factors responsible for the location of jute mills-

• Availability of jute near these areas
• Cheapest transport available-Waterways 
• A network of railways and roadways is available
• Availability of water for processing of raw jute
• Cheap labour is available from West Bengal and nearby areas
• Kolkata provides an urban centre for the industry, banking, insurance etc.

Problems faced the by jute textile industry-

• Synthetic substitutes started giving competition because of their low price, and we’re handy to use
• Competition from other countries like Brazil, Bangladesh, Philippines, Egypt and Thailand
• High cost of jute

Sugar industries

India is the second-largest producer of sugar and the largest producer of Gur and Khandsari. The Raw material of the sugar industry is sugarcane which is very bulky, making transportation difficult. If not delivered on time, the sucrose content decreases in the sugarcane, which is not good for the industries. The sugar industry is seasonal because sugarcane grows at a specific time of the year and can’t be stored because the sucrose content will decrease in the sugarcane. Because of this, industries are located near the sugarcane farms to get maximum productivity. Most of the sugar industries are now shifting in Maharashtra because of the climate and the High level of sucrose content in sugarcane grown in these areas. 

Conclusion:

India is a diverse country consisting of landscapes such as plains, plateaus, hills, and evergreen forests. India’s oldest and largest industry is textile which has been a long time contributor to the Indian economy, being one of the oldest industries. The sugar industry is seasonal because sugarcane grows at a specific time of the year and can’t be stored because the sucrose content will decrease in the sugarcane. During the 19th century, when India was under the control of Britishers, the textile industry started declining because Britain started developing textile industries in Britain to compete with Indian clothes.