Nearly a third of India’s total textile factories remained non-operational as of 2010-11, leading to a drastic increase in job losses in the sector, a newly published study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) revealed.

In its latest report, industry body Assocham said that nearly 30 per cent of the textile factories across the country remained non-operational between 2000 and 2011. As of 2011, there were 17,987 textile factories across the country, of which nearly 5,300 were non-operational.

In its latest report, Assocham said, “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.”

As a result, the share of jobs lost because of closures of textile factories also jumped from 6 per cent in 2000-01 to a whopping 42 per cent in 2010-11.

Tamil Nadu suffered maximum job losses of more than 2 lakh due to closure of textile factories, followed by Gujarat which incurred a loss of more than one lakh employment opportunities.

The closure of so many textile factories is a matter of grave concern for the sector as well as the economy because textile sector is one of India’s highest labour-intensive sectors. This sector provides employment to as many as 15 lakh people.

D S Rawat, secretary General of Assocham, noted that textile sector contributes nearly 4 per cent to India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and more than 10 per cent to the country’s total exports earnings.