Implications of History for the Current Policies and Industrial Structure: The Case of Indian Textile Sector

As an attempt to address the gap in the literature on linking the history of textile industry in India to the current policies and structure of the industry, this paper develops a synthesis of various studies that discuss about the historical and contemporary issues in Indian textile industry. Based on this review, we arrive at two major links between the past and the present that are relevant even in the 2010’s. Firstly, the continuity from the past of small scales of production in several subsectors of textile industry may have impeded its competitiveness and growth, though this has promoted the cause of common people who evolve as small-scale entreprenuners. This scenario has been rapidly changing, paving way to large-scale production. Secondly, the discontinuity from the past in terms of negligence of time-tested technologies that were less polluting by design, has led to increased pollution, which in turn, has resulted in closure of factories. Here, there is immense scope for Indian textile sector to learn from the past for survival and further growth in a sustainable way.