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The cotton textile industry is one of the oldest forms of industry in the world. Manual labour was utilized for production in this industry until the Industrial Revolution of 18th Century. It expanded with the usage of power looms which replaced handlooms after the Revolution. This expansion started in Britain and then spread all over the world. Currently, India, China, Japan and USA are the major producers of cotton textiles.

In India, Mumbai was the first place which saw the establishment of a successful mechanized textile mill in 1854. Mumbai saw the rapid expansion of the cotton textile industry after this because of the following reasons –

• Favourable climatic conditions such as warm and moist climate

• Nearness of a port which facilitated import of machinery

• Availability of raw material and skilled labour.

During early years, the cotton textiles industry flourished in Maharashtra and Gujarat where the humid climate favoured the processing of cotton. But later, this industry spread to other parts of the country as well because humidity can be artificially created. Other important centres of cotton textiles are; Coimbatore, Kanpur, Chennai, Kolkata, Ludhiana, Puducherry and Panipat. Ahmadabad is known as the “Manchester of India” as it is the second largest textile city in India.