The first ever 'Baseline Survey of Powerloom sector' conducted by AC Neilsen ORG MARG for ministry of textiles, government of India confirm Surat as the biggest man-made fabric (MMF) hub in India.

The objective behind the survey was to collect authentic data on the number of powerlooms in India, various kinds of fabric produced and other information. A nine page format was designed and information was collected with the assistance of Powerloom Service Centre (PCS) and powerloom associations across India.

Of the total 4,88,640 powerlooms in Gujarat, Surat has 4,70,496 powerloom and as far as shuttleless looms are concern Surat has only 14,364 as per the survey.

Surat’s annual polyester yarn consumption by the powerloom units is pegged at 40,610 lakh kilograms and annual fabric production at 91,871 lakh metres. The total fabric production in Gujarat is 97,206 lakh metres.

However, Ahmedabad and Dholka are the only centres that manufacture cotton fabrics. There are 16,986 powerlooms and 1,622 powerlooms in Ahmedabad and Dholka respectively. The annual production of cotton fabrics in Gujarat is pegged at 3,982 lakh metres.

According to survey, Bhiwandi in Maharashtra is the biggest centre for cotton and spun yarn or poly cotton followed by Namakkal in Tamil Nadu. Bhiwandi has 6,02,143 powerlooms, out of which 5,95299 are plain and 6,866 shuttleless. The annual cotton, spun yarn and poly viscose consumption is 9,504 lakh kilograms and the annual fabric production is around 1,06,425 lakh metres.

Other important centres in Maharashtra are Malegaon, Ichhalkaranji, Tarapur, Sangli, Kolhapur, Dhule and Nagpur.

The textile ministry had an old estimated figure on the powerlooms in India and based on that a requirement of Rs 50 billion for the modernization of the powerloom machines was drawn out as there was no authentic data to frame proper policies for the development of powerloom sector. In the recent survey helped to find out the actual figure of total powerlooms in the country which was put at 2.35 million. The number of shuttleless powerlooms was just 68,528 as against government's earlier estimates of 2.3 million.

With the ever survey, the government will now be able to frame policies keeping in mind the new figures in the powerloom sector. The powerloom centres like Surat and Maharashtra need major attention for modernization of powerloom machines.

Federation of Indian Art Silk Weaving Industry (FIASWI) chairman Arun Jariwala, chairman said that the spinning sector in India is a major beneficiary of the incentives given under the hugely successful Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme TUFS.