COTTON TEXTILE INDUSTRY

OF
WEST BENGAL
Bengal had a 25% share of the global textile trade in the early 18th century.
Bengal cotton textiles were the most important manufactured goods in world
trade in the 18th century, consumed across the world from the Americas to
Japan.

The State Government envisages developing West Bengal as a competitive

textile hub by increasing its share from the current 6% to at least 12% in next
few years. To fulfil this objective, following initiatives have been introduced:
The integrated textile development project (TB < PRO BEN - GAL) of 13 Textile
Parks (about 500 acres/200 hectare) are under 4 broad categories, viz, Apparel
& Garments; Dyeing & Processing; Power loom& Apparel and Technical
Textiles Financial assistance for cluster development, water conservation,
environmental compliance, standard quality compliance, market
development, branding & designing.
 Land free from all encumbrances are
offered for development of
infrastructure under Private Public
Partnership mode. Infrastructure like
access to roads, power substations,
Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP)
are supported by the State Government.

Fiscal incentives for units to be set

up in different Textile Parks, such as
capital investment subsidy, interest
subsidy, power tariff subsidy,
exemption of stamp duty, reimbursement
of VAT, reimbursement of electricity
duty, Entry Tax concession, etc. as per
the Textile Policy of the State.

Additional fiscal incentives on export

of technical textiles Exclusive single
window, time-bound statutory clearances
in advance for each unit set up in
these Parks.
 WOOLLEN TEXTILES
OF
LADAKH
HISTORY:
 Ladakh in the 19th century, they found that weaving was already widespread here. Every
household was spinning yarn, and every second house had a loom and was weaving their own
cloth.

 The main woollen textile is Nambu (snam-bu), which is used largely for clothing.
There are plenty of others too—spu-ruks is a 10cm thick, warm, woollen fabric with a
brush-like texture on one side; chha-li is woven with yak hair (not wool) and used as a
covering for blankets and rugs. Phug-shar and tsug-tul are strong, waterproof textiles
that also make blankets and coverings, while tsug-gdan is the material used for carpets.
Ta-gal and lu-gal help make saddle bags, and ma-gdan is a saddle rug placed on the
horse. Phir-gyis is a strong bag for carrying for grains, which also has interesting
design. Lastly, ray-bo is yak hair woven into fabric that nomadic people use to make
their houses and tents.
The northern region of Ladakh produces incredible woollen textiles that are unlike
anything else in the country. Shaped by the region’s extreme weather conditions and the
cultural norms prevalent here, these have ancient identification marks woven into them
through patterns.
The homegrown fabrics also come with attached with strange, local myths (did you
know that the world will come an end if an angel called Duguma stops weaving on her
loom?).
Designer Jigmat Norbu of Jigmat Couture has led the charge in exploring and celebrating
these, and has even founded a textile museum in Leh. Ahead, he talks about the traditional
methods of production, design innovations and how these textiles are evolving in the
current fashion scene.