Textile Loses Sheen

The strike led by Dr. Datta Samant involved 2,47,189 Mumbai mill workers and brought the city to a standstill. The 1982-83 strike was the last industrial action by the Mumbai mill workers when the city witnessed an industry-wide strike bringing the workforce to the centre of politics. The Textile Strike of 1982 is a watershed moment in India’s labour history. It was one of India’s longest strikes involving more than 200,000 workers who collectively stopped work for more than eighteen months. Regarded as one of the longest industrial strikes in history – it lasted over a year and was, technically, never withdrawn – rendered thousands of workers jobless, thanks to an adamant stand taken by their union led by a doctor-turned-trade-union-leader named Datta Samant as well as mill owners, and the Central and state governments.

In the later part of the 19th century, Mumbai textile industry grew significantly contributing to Maharashtra’s prosperity. There were about 130 textile mills which contributed to the growth of the textile and cotton industry. It covered an area of almost 600 acres of Mumbai island. In 1982, due to a major strike of 18 months, the mills were permanently closed and brought down the closure of the struggling industry. In this backdrop the Maharashtra government came out with a new policy on textile units. The Department of Textile of the state government comes under the aegis of Cooperation, Marketing, and Textile Department and is responsible for the development and promotion of the textile industry in the State. The Department plays a significant role in implementing schemes and programs that have helped improve the quality of textile products in Maharashtra and create employment opportunities in the industry. As per the decision, the Department is committed to further developing the textile industry in Maharashtra with a strong presence of both traditional and modern textile sub-sectors and aims to make the state a global hub for textiles.

The aim of the policy was to attract entrepreneurs in the entire value chain, besides seeing that existing units do not migrate to other major cotton-growing states. Over and above the Centre’s textile package, the technology upgradation fund scheme and other incentives, all major growing states have introduced their own textile policies to attract investment.

The governments of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have announced a number of incentives for textile units. Maharashtra saw the migration of all types of business units in the sector. Considering this reality the government introduced this policy.

In the last 15 years some units started operating in different parts of the state. Unfortunately, many units had closed down before this policy which ran from 2018-2023, hardly any expansions in the state were going to other states, all the cotton produced in the state was going outside.