The textile industry is one of the oldest in the country, going back several centuries. The industry experienced recession from the mid-1960s to the 1980s. However, this trend is reversed after the early 1990s when domestic demand for textiles products as well as exports increased substantially. What factors have contributed to the growth of the industry? What kind of changes have occurred in the structure of exports of the industry and what are their implications? Has the growth of this labour-intensive industry generated adequate employment? This book addresses such debates and examines the process of growth of India’s textile industry, focusing on its performance on the employment front since the 1980s.

Using macro-level data, the book analyses determinants of domestic demand and challenges the general perception that the growth of the industry was primarily driven by an expansion in exports of textile products. It argues that structural changes such as inter-fibre and inter-sectoral shifts and capacity expansion involving modernization have contributed to decline in quantity as well as quality of employment generated by the industry.