INDUSTRIES

LARGE AND SMALL INDUSTRIES

Art silk.

There were two factories one each at Bodwad (closed in 1952) and jalgaon producing art silk fabrics. The factory at Jalgaon was started in 1952. The fixed and working capital invested in it was Rs. 4 lakhs in 1953-54. It had 65 power looms with jacquard drop box arrangement, one sizing machine, one high-speed warping machine and four twisters in the same year. The number of looms was increased to 90 in 1958. The factory had two oil engines of 40 H.P. each, one generator of 33 K. V. A. and one boiler. About 70 per cent of the art silk consumed by it was of foreign origin and 30 per cent of indigenous origin. It used 1.2 lakh lbs. of 150 D art silk valued at about Rs. 4 lakhs and 18,000 lbs. of 20s staple yarn valued at Rs. 45,000 in 1953-54. The total consumption of yarn of both the varieties was 2 lakh lbs. in 1958. The prices ot 120 D and 150 D art silk were Rs. 4 and Rs. 5 per lb. in 1958.

The factory produced 7.7 lakh yards of art silk fabrics valued at Rs. 7.9 lakhs in 1955-54 and about 10 lakh yards in 1958. The market for the product was mainly Bombay and other places in India. The main problem faced by the factory was scarcity of skilled labour. It does not possess any arrangement for processing of cloth which is being done in Bombay. The factory worked in two shifts. It employed 110 workers who were paid Rs. 1.1 lakh as wages in 1953-54. Seven persons were employed as clerks and supervisors, who were paid Rs. 8,400 as salaries in 1953-54. About 150 workers were employed in it in 1958.

Bidi-making.

There were seven bidi-making factories registered under the Factories Act of 1948 at the end of June 1958, an increase of nearly four over those in 1955-56. They were situated at Erandol, Jalgaon, Raver and Yawai. All the establishments worked without the aid of power. The aggregate capital employed in the three factories in 1954 was Rs. 1,32,000 including Rs. 12,000 as working capital. About 234 persons including four clerks were employed by them who were paid Rs. 9,800 as wages in 1954. The workers were paid on piece-rate basis. The process of bidi making requires tembhurni leaves and tobacco. These factories consumed tem-bhurni leaves worth Rs. 26,000 and tobacco worth Rs. 96,000 and produced about five crores of bidis valued at Rs. 2.5 lakhs in 1954.

Tembhurni leaves are locally available and tobacco was imported from Nipani and Kolhapur. The product which was sold through the agents had whole of Jalgaon district as its market.

Confectionery Works.

There is one unit at Jalgaon. started in 1948 and engaged in manufacturing toffees, biscuits, chocolates, lemon-drops, etc. Aggregate capital invested in it was about Rs. 55,000 in 1958. The main products manufactured in the factory are toffees and biscuits of different kinds. Raw materials required in this process are sugar, cream of tartar, tartar powder, essences, glucose, colours, empty tins, baking powder, custard powder, etc. It purchases sugar from the local market or from Rawalgaon in Nasik district. Glucose and other materials are brought from Bombay and Ahmadabad. The value of raw materials consumed was Rs. 1,28,000 in 1953-54 and Rs, 1,60,000 in 1957. The factory has installed a motor of 5 H. P. for generating power. It has three tablet machines, three toffee machines, one mixing machine, one sugar-grinding machine, rollers and cutters, all valued at about Rs. 15,000 (1958).

Total employment varied between 17 and 24 during 1953—58. A skilled worker received Rs. 75 per month, an unskilled worker between Rs. 40 and Rs. 45. a salesman between Rs. 90 and Rs. 100 and a clerk between Rs. 75 and Rs. 85 as remuneration in 1958.

The factory produced lemon-drops, toffees, biscuits, etc., worth Rs. 1,56,000 in 1053-54 and worth Rs. 1,80,000 in 1957. The market for the products are falgaon and Dhulia districts and Madhya Pradesh. The wholesale prices of the products were as follows: —

Cotton Ginning and Pressing.

The cotton ginning and pressing industry of the district employs about 5.000 workers. Before 1840 cotton was ginned by the hand process. In 1844 the Superintendent of Cotton Experiment in

Khandesh set up saw gins at Dharangaon and Jalgaon. They became popular among the people and were widely used. A screw press was also built but it failed. In 1848. a number of gins were set up in villages like Yawal. Adavad, Chopda and Kasoda. The demand for gins was greater than the factory could supply. With the introduction of improved cotton seeds and enforcement of the Act for the prevention of cotton adulteration in 1860. the demand for gins increased. Between 1860—1865 three ginning factories, two at Jalgaon and the other at Mhasavad, were started. They worked with Platt's saw gins which injured cotton seed and cotton staple in the process. This had an adverse effect on their business and kept them idle for a long time. The rising prices during the First World War (1914—18) proved to be a blessing in disguise to the industry which made long strides in this period. However, the industry had to struggle hard in times of the great depression of the thirties and again after 1940 when government imposed restrictions upon the cultivation of commercial crops with a view to encourage the 'Grow More Food Campaign'. The consequent fall in the production of cotton resulted in the closure of  a large number of ginning factories. Added to this was the failure of cotton crop in the post-war years incapacitating many of the factories as recently as 1950—56.

There were 76 ginning and pressing factories in the district in 1955-56. All were small scale units. At the end of June 1958 there were 100 factories registered under the Factories Act and 22 small establishments, registered under the Shops and Establishments Act. The industry is seasonal and the spread over is between the month of November and April.

The factories were scattered all over the district as shown below (1958), and were located where transport facilities were easily available. Bhusawal 17, Jalgaon 12, Amalner 8, Dharangaon 4, Pachora 10, Chalisgaon 5, Chopda 8, Jamner 8, Yawal 8, Raver 8, Wargaon 1, Bahur (Chalisgaon) 1, Bhatgaon (Bhadgaon) 1, Parola 1, Edlabad 2, Savda 1, Faizpur 5, Most of these factories ginned cotton of virnar variety (197-3) on a fixed commission. The ginning rates varied from Rs. 12 to Rs. 14 per boja of 392 lbs., and pressing rates varied between Rs. 10 and Rs. 12 per boja of 392 lbs. in 1958.

Investment.

More than Rs. 85 lakhs of which Rs. 50 lakhs represented fixed capital were invested in 76 factories in 1955-56. Most of the factories use both mechanical and steam power. Tools and Implements.

Tools and equipment consisted of steam or oil engines, boilers, single or double roller gins, cotton operators, drilling machines, high and low pressure presses. About 700 gins and 28 pressess were installed in them. Groundnut decorticators or expellers for crushing oil seeds were attached to a few factories. Diesel oil. groundnut husk, coal and wood are the chief items of fuel.

Cotton ginning and pressing is the main work done in the factories. Ginning is done during the cotton season which begins in November and ends in April.

During the off season the plant and machinery are either kept idle or used for decorticating groundnuts. In the busy season they work in two shifts. Both men and women are employed in these factories. The total employment in 76 factories in 1955-56 was about 5,000 workers including engineers, engine-drivers, boiler attendants, firemen, rollcutters, mukadams, lavadis, ginmen, etc. They were paid on monthly basis. The wages of these workers were as follows: a skilled worker was paid Rs. 62 per month, semiskilled Rs. 54. The wages of an unskilled worker varied between Rs. 32 and Rs. 45 per month depending upon the type of work. Women numbering about 2,650 were employed as gin feeders and cotton cleaners. The nearby villages constituted the principal source of labour supply.

The bulk of cotton ginned was sent to Bombay and Madhya Pradesh. The owners of factories at Pachora and Amalner formed a pool to eliminate unhealthy competition between different units and to maintain a particular rate for ginning and pressing. They imposed voluntary restrictions on their production by closing one or two units in the bumper season. The rate of ginning fixed by the pool in 1958 season was Rs. 8 to Rs. 9 for three maunds of cotton lint and for pressing Rs, 11¹/₂ per boja of 392 lbs. At Pachora the rate for members of the pool was fixed at Rs. 5 per boja of cotton lint for ginning and at Rs. 2¹/₂ per boja for pressing.

Cotton Textile.

The existence of favourable factors like availability of raw cotton, cheap labour and railway communications have helped to develop a few large scale textile units in the district. The first cotton textile factory was started in 1873 at Jalgaon followed by another at Amalner. The third was estahlished at Chalisgaon in 1920. One more mill was organised at Jalgaon; but it was closed within five years. It had 16.128 spindles and 368 looms. At present only three factories are functioning (1957) in the three towns.

All of them are large scale units. The capital invested in the two factories at Jalgaon and Chalisgaon was Rs. 1,29,00,000 in 1955 of which Rs. 1,00,00,000 was used as working capital. The unit at Amalner had Rs. 25,16,976 as fixed capital and Rs. 89,69,649 as working capital in 1958.

The capital invested in these factories from 1950 to 1953 was as follows: —

Raw materials and tools.

These factories manufacture only coloured shirting and coating, dhotis and saris. They consume cotton yarn of different counts, colours and chemicals. Machines and appliances used by them are such as looms, spindles, warping and spinning and sizing machines, oil engines, etc.

The following table gives the number and value of cotton bales consumed during 1950, 1953 and 1955: —

The number of looms and spindles installed in three factories during 1955 and 1956-57 were as follows: —

Employment

All the units were working in one shift. The number of workers engaged in them and wages paid to them during 1950-53 and 1955 were as follows: —

TABLE No. 3

All the three units were engaged in production of grey cloth of superior and medium varieties consisting mainly of dhotis, saris, long cloth, shirting, chaddars, sheeting and mulls and cotton yarn. The quantity and value of production of the industry from 1950 to 1953 are given below: —

TABLE No. 4

In 1955, three units produced about 3.2 crore yards of dhotis, saris, etc., valued at Rs. 1.75 crores; 52.6 lakh yards of coloured shirting, coating, etc., valued at Rs. 27.8 lakhs; 2.9 lakh rough blankets valued at Rs. 6.6 lakhs and other varieties of cloth valued at Rs. 2.4 lakhs.

The market for the products was local and also Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

Edible Oil.

The edible oil industry is one of the oldest industries of the district. Even before oil mills were established it employed about 2,000 persons mostly working on village ghanis. They mainly crushed sesamum and linseed and later groundnut with its introduction in the eighties of the last century. The introduction of groundnut crop on a large scale necessitated the development of the industry on a more scientific basis. A steady extension in the area under cultivation of groundnut crop, which reached the figure of 907,119 acres in 1918-19. along with the availability of cheap labour and transport facilities led to the growth of the industry. It received further impetus during World War II, when due to restrictions imposed by government upon cultivation of cotton, there was a further expansion in the area under groundnut and its production. The number of oil factories rose to 37 in 1950. With the removal of war time restrictions, the acreage under groundnut declined which gave a set-back to the industry by bringing down its number to 24 in 1953. There were 24 oil factories and two vanaspati manufacturing units, one at Pachora started in 1939 and the other at Amalner started in 1948 with a production capacity of 10 ton per day.

Of the 24 oil mills, six were situated in Amalner and Pachora. four in Chalisgaon, two each in Bhusawal, Dharangaon, Jalgaon and Varangaon, one each in Chopda, Faizpur. Kajgaon, Naigaon. Raver, and Yawal. Besides these units there were 110 small establishments registered under the Shops and Establishments Act employing about 225 persons.

Machines and appliances used were steam engines, boilers, big expellers, rotary machines, filter presses and decorticators and clectrolyser for producing hydrogen gas. Machinery was purchased from Bombay or from abroad.

Groundnut husk, coal and firewood were used as fuel. On an average one expeller consumed about 50 bags of husk in a day in the busy season. Electricity was rarely used except only for lighting the premises.

Raw materials.

Groundnut and cotton seeds, are mainly crushed in these factories. The table No. 5 gives the quantities of groundnut, cotton and other seeds crushed in these factories, from 1950 to 1955.

TABLE No. 5

TABLE SHOWING CONSUMPTION OF RAW MATERIALS BY THE EDIBLE OIL INDUSTRY DURING 1950 AND 1955. (JALGAON DISTRICT)

TABLE No. 5 - continued.

Labour.

These factories employed engineers, fitters, firemen and boiler and expeller attendants. Women attendants were employed for winnowing and cleaning groundnuts. The following table gives the total employment in these factories and wages paid to them in 1950, 1953 and 1955.

TABLE No. 6

TABLE SHOWING THE NUMBER OF PERSONS EMPLOYED IN EDIBLE OIL FACTORIES AND THE WAGES IN 1950, 1953 AND 1955

Prouduction.

The production consisted of groundnut and cotton seed oils and oilcakes. The figures of production from 1950 to 1953 are shown below: —

TABLE No. 7

TABLE SHOWING PRODUCTION OF THE EDIBLE OIL INDUSTRY DURING 1950-55. (JALGAON DISTRICT)

TABLE No.7—contd.

Oilcakes were consumed locally. Oil was sent to Bombay, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

With the government policy to exempt from excise duty production not exceeding 75 tons, small units with rotary machines are being opened.

There were two other units engaged in crushing cotton seeds. Out: of the total production of cotton seeds in the district 80 per cent is used as cattle food and 20 per cent is crushed by these mills for extraction of oil.

Fire-works Industry.

There is only one factory established in 1950 at Jalgaon pro- ducing crackers. The factory is seasonal and production reaches its peak on such occasions as Diwali and other religious festivities. It produces sparklers, Hash crackers, Indian bombs, chakkars, aeroplanes, basket bombs and other varieties of fire-works. In 1953-54, it had a capital investment of Rs. 2,50,000 including working capital of Rs. 50,000. Raw materials used are aluminium powder, barium powder, paper, copper-coated wires, and sulphur. Aluminium and barium powder are imported from England and West Germany, paper from Holland, and copper-coated wire from Belgium and Holland. Indigenous wires are available in this country, but at a higher price: so are other articles such as aluminium and barium powder but of an inferior equality. Explosive chemicals and paper worth Rs. 1.5 lakhs were consumed by the factory in 1953-54. Appliances used are printing machines, wire cutting machines, disintegrators, paper cutting and stitching tube and rod cutting machines. The factory has installed an oil engine; of 10 H. P. Most of the work except cutting paper and wire, etc., is done by hand.

About 110 workers were employed by the factory in 1953-54. The average number of workers employed in 1957-58 was 140 per day. They were paid wages at piece rates. A skilled worker earned on an average between Rs. 1-8-0 to Rs. 2 per day.

The factory produced fire-works worth Rs. 3.5 lakhs in 1953-54. The products are sold in Punjab, Bombay, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh and also have a demand in Middle East and Africa.

Electricity Generation.

There are eight power houses generating electricity in the district Situated as under:—

Of these, the last two are under the control of Maharashtra Electricity Board. There is also one more power house at Bhusawal with an installed capacity of 1,000 K. W. and is owned by the Central Railway.

The accompanying tabular statement gives the location of each power house, its nature, its installed capacity, voltage at electricity generation, area of supply, quantity supplied, the number of consumers and charges per unit.

TABLE No. 8

TABLE No. 8—cont.

The aggregate capital invested in power houses at Jalgaon, Chalisgaon, Pachora. Amalner, Dharangaon and Bhusawal was Rs. 3.8 lakhs including Rs. 1.2 lakhs as working capital in 1955-56. All the eight units including those in charge of the Electricity Board employed about 254 workers and 160 other persons as supervisors and clerks and paid them Rs. 5 lakhs as wages and salaries in 1958. About 4 lakhs gallons of diesel oil valued at Rs. 4.5 lakhs and 1,33,000 tons of steam coal valued at Rs. 1.2 lakhs were consumed bv the generating units in 1955-56. The total output was about 49 lakhs of K. W. H. of which 26.2 lakhs were consumed for lighting purposes and 18.3 lakhs for industrial purposes.

General Engineering.

There are three factories including an ordnance factory and a workshop of the Central Railway, engaged in engineering works. The ordnance factory and railway workshop are situated at Bhusawal and the third factory at Chalisgaon. The factory at Chalisgaon is a subsidiary concern of a textile mill. It manufactures spare parts of textile, ginning and pressing machinery and expellers used in engineering organisations. In railway workshop at Bhusawal, railway steam engines are repaired. The two factories had Rs. 64,000 as working capital in 1955. The aggregate capital invested in the factory at Chalisgaon was Rs. 90,243 including Rs. 45,870 as fixed capital in 1950. The total investment was raised to Rs. 97,370 in 1951.

The raw materials consumed consist of pig iron, steel plates, steel castings, brass castings and coke. One factory consumed raw materials worth Rs. 9,800 in 1950 and worth Rs. 10,000 in 1955. The other factory consumed fuel and electricity worth Rs. 7,099 in 1950 and electric energy valued at Rs. 1,640 in 1955. The railway workshop had its own arrangement for electricity generation.

The following table gives the total employment figures and wages paid in some of the factories in 1950, 1953 and 1955:—

TABLE No. 9

TABULAR STATEMENT SHOWING THE TOTAL EMPLOYMENT IN GENERAL ENGINEERING FACTORIES DURING THE YEARS 1950, 1953 AND 1955. (JALGAON DISTRICT).

The factory at Chalisgaon produced spare parts worth Rs. 30,000 in 1955. In addition, it did repair works worth Rs, 15,000. Most of the produets were sold in jalgaon district.

Besides these factories there is a workshop of the State Transport Corporation at Jalgaon where buses of the State Road Transport Corporation are repaired. It was started in 1952 with a fixed capital of Rs. 1,30,229. In 1956, 22 persons including a clerk and a supervisor were employed in it and were paid Rs. 2,572 as salaries and wages, Electricity worth Rs. 1,755 was used as fuel and raw materials like spare parts required for motor buses, consumables, tyres, tubes and batteries valued at Rs. 83,469 were consumed in 1955-56.

Gur Manufacturing.

There are 18 factories manufacturing gur located in Yawal taluka as shown below:-

One each in Panchak, Faizpur, Naigaon, Kathora, Sangvi, Dahigaon, Kingaon, Vadhode and Viravali villages and nine in Yawal town. These factories crush sugarcane which is grown on their own farms. The industry is seasonal working only during the months of January and May. The production is on a small scale and the output is mostly sold locally and in the surrounding areas. The factories use oil engines of 10 to 20 H. P. for operating the crusher. The total employment was about 248 in 1958.

There are minor factories like those of stone crushing and producing Ayurvedic medicines. They are located at Jalgaon and Bhusawal. The Ayurvedic medicines manufacturing factory at Bhusawal employed about 32 workers and the stone crushing factory about 15 workers in 1958. Both are perennial factories.

Ink Manufacturing.

There was one small unit at Jaigaon which manufactured fountain-pens and fountain-pen ink. About a lakh of rupees were invested in it when it was registered under the Factories Act in 1954. In employed 60 workers and produced about 1.75 crores of packets of ink. No machinery was used in it. Besides this unit there were in 1958 live small units manufacturing ink which were registered under the Shops and Establishments Act. They employed 48 persons.

Printing.

In 1958, there were three printing presses registered under the Factories Act. They were started during 1930—1938, all located in Jalgaon and employing about 26 persons. Besides, there were 36 other small units registered under the Shops and Establishments Act and employing about 163 persons in 1958. These concerns undertook printing of books, newspapers, handbills, etc. The aggregate capital invested in the two units in 1953-54 was Rs. 68,000 including Rs. 35,000 as working capital. They paid Rs. 13.000 as wages in 1953-54. The workers were employed on monthly basis. The mechanical equipment in them consisted of printing machines, treadles, cutting machines, stitching and per-forating machines, etc. They had installed three electric motors of ½ H. P. each, and five treadles, three of 8" x 12" size and two of 12" x 18" size. The raw materials required included paper, ink, type-metal, etc. Paper and other items were used in large quantities and were purchased locally or from Bombay. Poona, Nasik, etc. The presses did job work and obtained most of their work from local customers or from nearby villages or from government or local bodies and educational institutions. Printing work worth Rs. 40,000 was done by them in 1953-54.

Sewing Thread and Reeling.

At Pimprala in Jalgaon taluka a factory was started in 1950 which was engaged in reeling sewing thread. The aggregate capital invested in it was Rs. 1,45,000 including Rs. 40,000 as fixed capital. It consumed cotton yarn of 2/30s and 2/10s which is brought from Bombay. About 90 per cent of the total yarn consumed bv the factory was of 2/30s count and about 10 per cent of 2/10s count. In 1953-54 the total quantity of yarn consumed was 79,000 lbs, valued at Rs. 2.3 lakhs. It used wooden tubes and paper in reeling the thread and consumed these articles worth Rs. 14,000 in 1953-54.

The total employment in the factory in 1953-54 was 20 including two clerks. In all Rs, 10,500 were paid as wages and salaries. The factory had six electric motors of 8 H P. each, five tube winding machines, one drum winder and one bobbin winder. It produced 18,600 gross of sewing thread tubes worth Rs. 4.65 lakhs in 1953-54. Each tube contained about 500 yards of sewing thread. The products are sold in Bombay, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

TOP