Textile and Agro-Based Industries

Cotton textiles

• Oldest organised industry, the first mill in Fort Gloster (near Kolkata) in 1818; the first successful mill in Mumbai in 1854 (by Cowasji Nanabhoy Davar). Ahmedabad's first mill in 1861.
• Located in the cotton belt (Maharashtra, Gujarat) for raw material and humidity, now spread out.
• Centres: Mumbai (Cottonopolis of India), Ahmedabad (Manchester of India), Coimbatore (Manchester of South India), Kanpur, Surat (synthetics, diamonds), Tiruppur (knitwear), Ludhiana (hosiery, woollen), Erode, Madurai.
• India is the largest producer of cotton yarn and a major exporter; handloom, powerloom sectors are big employers.
• PM MITRA parks (textile parks, 2023) are planned in seven states.

Jute

• Mills on the Hooghly from Kolkata to Titagarh; also in Bihar, Andhra, Assam; West Bengal has most.

Woollen and silk

• Woollen: Ludhiana, Amritsar, Dhariwal (Punjab), Kanpur, Srinagar, Jaipur, Mirzapur (carpets); India is a large carpet exporter.
• Silk: India is the second largest producer after China and the only producer of all four varieties (mulberry, tasar, eri, muga); Karnataka is the leader, then Andhra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam (muga). Central Silk Board, Bengaluru. Varanasi (Banarasi), Kanchipuram, Mysore, Pochampally, Sambalpuri are known.
• Muga silk is unique to Assam (golden), with a GI tag.

Sugar

• Second largest producer; cooperatives in Maharashtra (Pravaranagar). Mills are seasonal. UP, Maharashtra, Karnataka lead.
• Ethanol from molasses; the E20 target.

Paper, food processing, leather

• Paper: bamboo, bagasse, softwood; Nepanagar (MP, newsprint, the first), Ballarpur, Brajrajnagar.
• Food processing: milk (Amul, Anand), fruit, fish, tea, coffee.
• Leather: Kanpur, Chennai, Agra, Kolkata; India is a top producer of leather and hides.
• Handicrafts and handlooms: Srinagar (papier-mache, carpets, shawls), Moradabad (brassware), Firozabad (glass), Saharanpur (wood).

IT and services

• IT hubs: Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai, Noida, Gurugram, Mumbai; STPI (1991); GIFT City; Technology parks.