Cotton textile in Ahmedabad, Gujarat :

• Cotton textiles are among the oldest industries of Ahmedabad, Gujarat. One can trace it back to the day of Indus Civilization when cotton fabrics from Lothal (port) were sent to different parts of Asia.
• Initially, old technology was followed by the weavers. The spinning wheel constituted its sole machine. Ladies of the village used to spin the cotton. During the British period, technology changed and several cotton textile mills were set-up in different parts of the country. Powerloom was used in place of handloom. Factories were opened for twenty-four hours. Several types of machines were used. Machines of advanced technologies invented in England and other countries.
• The workers for cotton textile mills used to come from rural areas of Gujarat and Maharashtra. Some of them used to come daily by cycle and most of them settled nearby the factory. Slums developed and they created several types of problems for the city dwellers.
• The industry provided living to Farmers, cotton ball pluckers and workers engaged in ginning, spinning, weaving, dying, designing, packaging, sewing and tailoring.The products were advertised by the agents of mills under the British East India Company and local merchants and traders. The European traders used to buy fine quality cotton textile from Ahmedabad and that was taken to Surat.
• We have talked with employers and some workers of the cotton textile industry. Employers said that they used to face tough competition with British cotton textile before the independence but after India's independence, they could receive certain incentives. The globalization since the 1990s has, however, opened the way for “Wealth is Right” in the form of MNCs. Countries in Europe were also installed.