The Manchester of Maharashtra
Ichalkaranji is one of the largest power-loom centres in the country and is aptly known as the Manchester of Maharashtra. In and around the town run roughly 1,15,000 power looms, 22,000 semi-automatic looms and 4,500 shuttle-less looms, together producing an estimated 10–12 lakh metres of grey cloth every day.
The power-loom story here dates back to 1904, when the first loom was started by the entrepreneur late Vithalrao Datar, with the inspiration and support of the then Chief of the Ichalkaranji Jahagir, Shrimant Narayanrao Babasaheb Ghorpade. Growth was slow until the late 1940s — the number of looms reached about 5,000 around 1950 — but after independence the industry expanded rapidly as handlooms were steadily converted to power looms.
The efforts of late Dattajirao Kadam (Ex-M.P.) and late A. G. “Abasaheb” Kulkarni gave the industry momentum, while co-operative spinning mills and processing units added strength to the supply chain. Kallappanna Awade, former Minister of State for Industries, Maharashtra, established several co-operative spinning mills — ICO, Navmaharashtra and Indira Gandhi Mahila — and founded the world-class DKTE institute, which continues to produce textile technocrats. Together these built Ichalkaranji into one of the largest power-loom centres in the decentralised sector.
A prominent Indian textile centre
In and around Ichalkaranji there are about 35 spinning mills covering a wide range of counts, ply yarns, ring and open-end yarns and fancy yarns — well equipped with machinery and product-development facilities. Around 150 sizing units, from conventional to modern, support more than a lakh power looms in the decentralised sector. These produce cambric, poplin, dhoti, sari, shirting, suiting, canvas and industrial textiles. Over 35 power-processing houses and about 80 hand-processing units meet the sector’s finishing needs.
Over the last two decades the sector has changed significantly — product diversification, quality improvement and higher productivity, driven in part by more than 4,500 shuttle-less looms now in operation.
Where garmenting fits in
In the textile supply chain at Ichalkaranji, garmenting has been the weak link. Historically only about 35 small-scale garment units operated in the region, even as many micro-enterprises and entrepreneurs were ready to enter the field. Building their confidence — through skilled labour, R&D, productivity, creativity and marketing support — opens up new customer bases and product variety, but also brings challenges: fabric selection, creative design, attractive finishing effects and a skilled women’s workforce for stitching.
To address these gaps, a Common Facility Centre was identified as a prime need, with the objectives of:
- A Training Centre
- A Common Production & Processing Centre
- An R&D and Testing Centre
- Product development & quality up-gradation
- Design & creativity
- Marketing facilitation
The SPV
To deliver on these objectives, Ichalkaranji Garment Cluster Ltd. (the SPV) was established to run a garment cluster — especially for women and self-help groups — with support from the MSE-CDP scheme of the Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Government of India.
The DKTE institute has partnered with the Ichalkaranji Municipal Council on the Mahila Kranti Yojana, under which 2,079 women were trained in garment manufacturing, with thousands more to follow — a skilled workforce ready to serve the emerging garment sector. Through this project the SPV aims to nurture 2,000–2,500 women entrepreneurs, setting an example for large-scale employment generation for women and self-help groups in the garment industry.