About 30 per cent of total textile factories across India were non-operational as of 2010-11 which led to massive job losses in the sector, a study by industry body Assocham has found.

“Of the total 17,987 textile factories across India, 12,688 factories were operational and around 5,300 were non-operational as of 2010-11,” the study said.

Consequently, the share of jobs lost due to shutdown of operations of textile factories also rose from six per cent in 2000-01 to 42 per cent in 2010-11, it found.

“This is a matter of grave concern as organised textile sector, apart from creating 14 lakh jobs, also contributes four per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 10.1 per cent to the total exports earnings,” Assocham Secretary General D S Rawat said.

Among states, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Punjab, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh together accounted for about 88 per cent of the non-operating textile factories, the study found.

Tamil Nadu alone accounts for about 54 per cent of the non-operating textile units followed by Gujarat (16 per cent), Maharashtra (10 per cent), Punjab (four per cent) and UP (three per cent), it revealed.

Tamil Nadu has also incurred maximum job losses of over two lakh followed by Gujarat which has lost over one lakh employment opportunities due to non-operation of textile factories.

“While the total number of textile factories grew at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of five per cent during 2000-01 and 2010-11, non-operational textile factories grew at a whopping 23 per cent and the textile factories under operation grew at a CAGR of a just two per cent,” Rawat said.

Gujarat has registered maximum growth of about 39 per cent CAGR in non-operational textile units, from over 290 factories to over 2,800 factories during 2000-01 and 2010-11, followed by Punjab (35 per cent), Haryana (32 per cent), Himachal Pradesh (26 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (25 per cent).

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