BACKGROUND

BOMBAY IS THE INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL METROPOLIS OF INDIA, and it would be very much realistic to say that Bombay is miniature India. It has now expanded into a very large industrial complex strung out along a sea-board, and is heavily settled throughout its length and breadth by industries and commercial activities on a mammoth scale. In fact it has assumed the character of the industrial and commercial nerve centre of the entire country. It has been a leading centre of the cotton textile industry for a century and quarter, and more recently of the machinery and chemi­cals industries. The cotton textile industry is the prime industry which has contributed to its economic prosperity. The history of the textile industry is, in fact, the history of economic growth of Western India. This pioneer­ing industry accelerated the growth of other industries, and provided an impetus to the growth of commercial concerns and financial institutions. The Bombay Stock Exchange was once dominated by cotton textiles.
The mammoth growth of industries is attributable to the industrial infrastructure facilities in this city. Bombay may be said to owe all its prosperity and importance to the immense advantage accruing from its excellent natural harbour." In fact, it is inconceivable that, in the absence of the harbour, a city could have emerged in Bombay." (C. Rajagopalan, The Greater Bombay, 1962, p. 39) The harbour and Airport of Bombay provide the main link between London and the Far East, which lent it advantages of easy international communication. Internally, it is connected to other parts of India, by the network of two major railway systems, namely, the Central Railway and the Western Railway, which have their headquarters in Bombay. It is brought into close proximity to other Indian cities by the air services of the Indian Airlines. The Bombay Port Trust has also contributed towards the commercial and industrial growth of this city.

Bombay enjoys the benefit of a developed capital market and the head­quarters of many financial institutions and banking system. The share market and network of banks have contributed to the availability of industrial finance right from the last quarter of the previous century. The Imperial Bank of India, and its successor, the State Bank of India, as also the Reserve Bank of India have played an important role in the making of Bombay's industries. The Life Insurance Corporation of India, with its headquarters in the city did not lag behind in this process.

The city owes its industrial oppulence to a class of enterprising and enlightened entrepreneurs, a few of whom are mentioned in the history of cotton textile industry. These men of vision, Parsis, Gujaratis, Maha-rashtrians, Marwadis and Muslims strived for the development of industry. A due credit should also be given to a number of Europeans who not only pioneered some industries but also manned them. The growth of education with the establishment of the Elphinstone College, the Wilson College and the Bombay University, and later, the VJ.T.I. facilitated the availability of educated and trained personnel for industry and commerce.

The cheap hydro-electric energy made available by the generating stations at Khopoli, Bhira and Bhivpuri by the Tatas in the tens of this century also contributed to the immense growth of industries in Bombay. Hydroelectric porwer generated at the very door of Bombay in the hey-days of industrial growth was really a great boon.

From the very beginning of British administration, Bombay emerged as the industrial nerve centre. It became the gateway of India for Western traders, and in a short period developed as the best port on the Arabian Sea coast, the most important centre of commerce, the seat of government, the locus of higher educational institutions, and the major centre of textile industry.

Although cotton textile continues to be the major industry of Bombay, the chemicals and chemical products industry overtook it in the past few years. As at present, the invested capital, output and value added on manufacture in the chemicals and chemical products industry are very much higher than in the cotton textile industry. This point is elaborated in the relevant sections in this chapter on the basis of statistics from the Annual Survey of Industries. Cotton Textile is now suffering from several ailments, a number of units falling ' sick'. The phenomenal growth of the metal products industry, machinery manufacturing and electrical machinery industry ever since the Second World War has added to the importance of Bombay in the country. The petroleum industry, the Bombay High oil exploration project and the petrochemicals complex in Bombay have however elevated the industrial status of Bombay in the Indian economy. These vital industries have attained a unique position for the city in the country's economy.

Like any other human creation there is a black side of a spectacular progress also. The location of industries in Bombay is very defective, and the city is now suffering from many socio-economic ailments, the cures for which are not easy. Industrialisation and urbanisation which are so closely interlinked have bred sordid and squalid conditions of living.

Though the industries are scattered all over the Island, there is a greater degree of concentration in the north. The actual industrial quarter may, roughly be defined as the area enclosed by Victoria road in the South, Reay road and Sewri road in the East, Tilak road in the North and by Gokhale Road (North), Worli road and Haines road in the West and includes sections like Worli, Byculla, Nagpada, Tadwadi, Mazagaon, Sewri, Lalbaug, Parel, Naigaum, and Chinchpokli. The industrial zone so defined is located almost in the geographical centre of the City.

" The location of the industrial zone in the centre of the city has proved to be highly undesirable." (C. Rajagopalan, op. cit., p. 48)

 Dr. P. S. Lokanathan observes, "Bombay city is fast ceasing to occupy that predominant position in the cotton industry which it once held and ' deglomerating' tendencies such as high rents, high rates of wages and relatively high cost of transporting goods to distant inland markets are counteracting the former tendency towards concentration." (Dr. P. S. Lokanathan, Industrial Organisation in India) This is however too extreme a view, and has to be taken at a discount.

Greater Bombay as a separate area unit came into existence in April 1950, when the Suburban District was merged with Bombay city for purpose of municipal administration. Its boundaries were further extended over the Salsette in 1957 upto Dahisar on the Western Railway and upto Mulund on the Central Railway. It now embraces an area of about 603 square kilometres.

A few words about origin of industrialisation in Salsette which now is covered by the Bombay Suburbs. The first industry in the modern sense of the term to be established in Salsette was cotton textiles. In 1910, there were reported to be several mills in Kurla, engaged in the manufacturing of cotton cloth and woollen cloth in steam factories. Kurla is still an important centre of mill industry. In 1929, as many as 148 factories were functioning in Salsette, of which three were cotton mills.

Industrialisation in the real sense may be said to have commenced only after 1930. The variety of industries in Salsette multiplied between 1930 and 1941. There was a rapid increase in the number and variety of indus­tries during the Second World War. According to the records of the Chief Inspector of Factories, there were 926 factories in Salsette in June, 1958.

A few observations are made below on the location of industries in the suburbs, formerly styled as Salsette. The observations are based on personal investigations.

Between Kurla and Mulund several new industries have developed during the last about 30 years. Kurla-Ghatkopar-Vikhroli and Bhandup is mainly an automobile, metal products and machinery industries zone. Further beyond upto Mulund is a zone of chemicals and drugs industries, paints and inks. These two zones have housed several large factories, some of them with foreign collaboration and with giant plants. Chembur and Trombay is restricted industrial area with a cluster of petroleum refineries, a petrochemicals complex, a giant fertilizer plant, a thermal power station and the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.

Between the Eastern and Western suburbs, a large industrial zone was developed during the fifties and sixties. Unlike the industrial core in the city the industries here are mostly medium sized or small sized, and are located in several industrial estates at Saki Naka, Marol, Powai, etc. It is largely a metal products, machinery, machine tool and electrical machinery zone. A good many chemical products factories and film industry are also located in this area. There are also many giant factories located in this zone. Large machinery and machine tool units and pharmaceuticals have developed along the Kurla-Andheri Road, and particularly at Powai, Marol and Saki. Film industry is localised along the fringe of this zone.

Kurla-Ghatkopar-Vikhroli-Bhandup is however the largest industrial zone in the suburbs. North of the Kurla textile zone, several electrical and engineering factories are located. A relatively cheaper land and nearness to water and power mains have enabled rapid expansion of the suburbs. These newer industrial areas show a greater degree of differentiation according to type and their association with auxiliary industries.

The residential Western suburbs have mainly food processing industries like confectioneries and drinks. However huge plants have been established in recent years at Goregaon, Kandivli, Malad and Dahisar. It is only during the last decade that some big units have been started along the Western Express Highway beyond the Santacruz Airport.

Many of the suburban industries are the result of post-war expansion of the old industrial units in the Island City. Many others have diversified their production, while a majority of them have entered into new avenues of production. There are also many ancillary industries.

This chapter is divided into sections with the objective of furnishing a cohesive and cogent review of industrial growth in Bombay. The first section deals with Industrial Development in Bombay prior to First World War. The second section gives a, narrative of Industrial Development between the First World War and the year 1957. The narrative in this section has been brought right upto 1957, in view of the pattern of data available. Ths year 1957 is significant also because the present territorial jurisdiction of Bombay came into existence in that year.

In the rest of the chapter is given a detailed account of the major irjdustries, followed by their various segments. An attempt is made to classify the industries on the pattern adopted by the Annual Survey of Industries, 1973-74 and 1975-77, conducted by the Government of India. An account of the segments of the major industries is given after that of the major industries. The classification, in a few cases, does not coincide with that of the Annual Survey. The narrative of the industries is attempted to be given in a historical perspective. The Annual Survey statistics cover the census and sample sectors, and represent annual averages during the respective survey periods. Although the analysis of the structure of the various industries is quite exhaustive, the conclusions attempted at some places are by no means claimed to be accurate.

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INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT PRIOR TO WORLD WAR I

The momentous growth of this industrial metropolis of India has a very long history. The first industry in Bombay, in the proper sense of the term, was established by the East India Company in 1676 under patent by the British Crown to the Company on 15th October 1676. The Cotton Textile Industry is however the most important organised industry with the longest history which can be traced to the last quarter of the seventeenth century. Cotton goods constituted one of the oldest exports of India as they formed a large part of the business transacted by the East India Company. In connection with encouragement of cotton and silk weaving in the island of Bombay a letter from the Surat Office of the Company to the Bombay authorities, dated 4th November 1676, directed the latter authorities to invite and encourage weavers from the Deccan to settle in Bombay so as to increase the manufacture of calicos for exports. The Sural Office also desired the Bombay Office to handle this affair very seriously and earnestly by supplying yarn and necessary equipment. (For text of the letter refer Gazetteer of Bombay City and Island, Vol. I, 1909, pp. 461-62. The letter gives clear directives to the Bombay authorities how, they should encourage weaving industry in Bombay and what industry and ingenuity they should employ in that affair which would be well esteemed by the East India Company) By 1676 a regular industry had been established. The Company imported silk and cotton and distributed it to the weavers who worked under a mukadam. In 1683 it was decided to establish a manufactory of knitted stocking. By 1735 the Bombay cloth had earned a considerable reputation. The Council at Surat was directed by the Company in 1735 to further pursuade weavers from Gujarat to settle in Bombay, by giving them incentives of monetary advances and housing. It was in 1758 that the authorities arranged for the immigration of certain Bassein weavers, who were to manufacture goods for Jeddah and other western ports.

The exports of cotton manufactures from Bombay, as also from India, to England began to decline and became quite insignificant soon after the opening of the nineteenth century. This was because England began to manufacture her own cloth and owing to the use of machinery she went rapidly ahead of India. About 1813 the ports of India were thrown open to English merchant adventurers, but protective duties of 70 to 80 per cent were imposed in Great Britain on cotton and silk manufactures from India while some items were totally excluded. This was motivated by exclusive protection to the English industry against Indian goods. English cotton goods now began to be imported into India. The growth of the mill industry in India, especially in Bombay, tended to check its advance to some extent. The first cotton mill in Bombay was projected in 1851 by Mr. Cowasji Nanabhai Davar and commenced work in 1854 (The year of establishment is also mentioned as 1856 in some sources.) as a joint-stock company under the name of the Bombay Spinning and Weaving Company. (The first cotton mill in India was erected on the banks of the Hughli in 1818 near Calcutta.)

By about 1909 the city had nearly 100 cotton mills, and thousands of workers found daily employment in them. But the handmade manu­facture of cloth had yet not been wholly extinguished. Cotton-weaving was a recognised hand industry, especially among the Julahas, who generally wove coloured saris for Indian women. Silk cloth was also manufactured on a considerable scale. The various kinds of brocade known as kincobs, hirnrus, masrus, lapas and tas were worked into saris, cholis, waistcoats, shoulder cloth, pagadis, kamarbands, etc.

The weaving artisans were mainly concentrated in Duncan Road, near Byculla and in the vicinity of Babula Tank (Near J. J. Hospital). Reliable estimates showed that handlooms still used much of the yarn imported into this country and that a large quantity of cheap of cotton goods of various sorts were turned out by the Bombay weavers, both Hindu and Muslims, who were enumerated at 7,471 by the Census of 1901.

A large part of the cloth manufactured by the Bombay mills was dyed and processed locally and exported to the Deccan and Konkan region. The dyers (Rangaris) were mostly Muhammadans from Satara, Kathiawar, Gujarat and neighbouring districts. The Census of 1901 enumerated about 1,200 dyers, including silk dyers in Bombay. Some raw material for dyeing was imported from China. The process of dyeing cotton cloth or thread in various colours was very elaborate. The colours were very fast and exhibited aesthetic sense of the artisan. Naturally, the processed cloth was a choice of the connoisseur. There was a wide range of dyeing processes, such as, kusumba dyeing, yellow dyeing, purple dyeing, green dyeing, black dyeing and indigo dyeing.

Printing of cloth was yet another hand-industry in Bombay, chindari or knotted design, also called knot-dyeing or bandhani was a beautiful method of decorating cotton and silk goods. It closely resembled printing, and it could be inferred that it had its origin in Gujarat, Cutch and Sind. A large number of chindari workers were found in Bombay, their central place of business being near Nail Bazar, though the work was carried on in other parts of the city also.

SALT MANUFACTURE

Salt making is one of the most important and the oldest industries of Bombay. Its geographical condition lends it a natural advantage for the development of this industry. Though the industry has declined and dwindled progressively with the human encroachment on the creeks and estuaries of old Bombay during the last century and a quarter, it was once a prosperous industry in the past. The original Bombay of seven islands had produced considerable quantities of salt which was exported not only to upper India but also in considerable quantities to foreign countries.

The salt-works of the island of Bombay, by the beginning of this century, were situated in a compact group in the north-east corner between Sewri and Sion on the borders of the Bombay and Mahul creeks. In 1872, when the Bombay Salt Department was reorganised, the 21 salt works produced an average of 6,50,000 maunds of salt per annum. In 1889, two new private works were opened, and in 1890 a third, the Wadia Mahal, which was regarded as one of the most important sea-salt works in the Bombay Presidency. About 263 acres of land was granted by Government in perpetuity and rent free for this salt work to Khan Bahadur Jamsetji Dhunjibhoy Wadia in recognition of his long and meritorious service in the Government Dockyard.

In 1908 there were 23 salt-works which constituted the so called Matunga taluka. With the exception of five government salt-works which were farmed, the Matunga works were the property of private persons with limited rights. These persons, 79 in number, were called as Shilotris who belonged to the Prabhu, Parsi, Muhammadan and Indian Christian communities, some of them being wealthy capitalists. The actual workers at the salt pans comprised Agris, Kolis and Indian Christians from Bombay as also Dublas and Kharvas from Surat, who used to come to Matunga during the fair season. (For details of Salt industry refer to the Gazetteer of Bomby City and Island, Vol. I, 1909, pp. 481-84 and to Thana Gazetteer, Vol XIII, Part I,1882, pp. 363-78.)

The salt produced at Matunga was largely exported to Central Provinces, Berar, Bengal, Mysore and the Nizam's Dominions, the bulk of it being consigned by railway from Dadar Station. It was also in much demand in Nasik, Khandesh and Ahmadnagar districts, to a lesser extent in Belgaum, Dharwar and parts of Karnataka. Salt was transported in carts while that destined for Calcutta and the Malabar Coast was transported in boats and steamers with a capacity of 1,000 to 2,000 maunds.

GOLD AND SILVER THREAD MANUFACTURING

Bombay had once a prosperous industry of gold and silver thread manufacturing. There were about 1,000 embroiderers and lace and muslin makers in the city as per the Census of 1901.

OIL PRESSING

Oil pressing in primitive oil presses is an old industry. Bombay con­tained some years ago a few large oil pressing establishments. The industry was mainly confined to pressing of sesamum seed, coconuts and ground­nut. At the beginning of this century there was only one oil-mill worked by machinery.

SUGAR REFINING

Sugar refining was a small industry with 25 factories licensed by the municipality in 1909. Refined sugar was mainly imported from Mauritius. But the Bombay sugar was sent to Baroda, Surat, Bhavnagar, Ahmedabad, Zanzibar and even to China.

BIDI AND SNUFF MANUFACTURING

Tobacco and snuff manufacturers and sellers in Bombay numbered about 2,800 according to the Census of 1901. It was a very prosperous industry employing mainly Kamathi women. It was mainly concentrated in Kamathipura, Falkland road, Duncan road, Grant road, Kalbadevi road and Girgaum. The tobacco was mainly imported from Gujarat, Deccan and Madras.

IRON WORK

Though Bombay had to import all her iron as well as copper from England, great progress had been made in the iron industry. There was hardly any description of iron work which could not be manufactured in Bombay in 1909. The import of kerosene oil had given rise to the new industry of iron foundries, the account of which is given afterwards in this chapter.

WOOD CARVING AND FURNITURE MAKING

This industry was celebrated for the manufacture of carved blackwood furniture which was carried on in Bombay by the artisans from Surat and other places. Screens, teapoys, writing desks, flower-stands and cupboards manufactured in Bombay were of a very elegant appearance and often of exquisite design.

INLAID WORK

Inlaid work, for which Bombay had long been famous, was probably introduced about 1800 a.d. from Hyderabad (Sind). It might also have its origin in the Punjab as it was familiarly known as ' Multan Work'. The industry provided employment to several hundreds of workmen in Bombay. The chief articles made were paper-knives, work-boxes, writing desks, watch-stands and several articles with beautiful patterns. The patterns in common use in Bombay were the circle, the hexagon, the tinkoma gul, compounded of wire, ebony, ivory and stained horn, the gul; and for borders the gandiris, compounded of all the materials, the row of beads, the sankru hansio and the poro hansio. The manufacturers of inlaid work dealt largerly in carved sandalwood boxes from Kanara and Gujarat, and sometimes themselves employed wood-carvers.

COACH FACTORIES

Bombay found a congenial home for coach factories, the first factory being established in 1808 by Pallonji Bomanji Palkhiwalla at Dhobi Talao(He took his surname from the trade in which he was engaged.). There were about three hundred coach factories in Bombay in 1909. (The industry was very flourishing, each palanquin being worth about Rs. 400 to Rs. 600 depending on the quality of decoration. The palanquins were followed by other modes of coaches such as shigram, canoe-shaped phaeton, buggy, landau, brougham, vitcoria and the landaulette.)

The carriages were exported to Kabul, Persia, Singapore, Baroda, Kathiawar and other parts of India. The introduction of motor cars caused a decline in this industry which is hardly surviving today.

LIME KILNS AND BRICK AND TILE MAKING

It may appear fictitious to-day that Bombay had several lime kilns. But it is a fact. There were three kinds of lime kilns in Bombay. One was used for manufacturing lime for whitewashing purposes, another for making lime for masonry works, and the third for lime intended for eating. The lime for eating was prepared from Muscat stone. White­washing lime was prepared from oyster-shells from Ratnagiri and masonry lime from scraps of marble and Porbunder stone.

Bricks and tiles were made in Bombay on a large scale. The Bombay, Brick and Tile manufactory, situated at Sewri, supplied very good tiles and earthen blocks suitable for building purposes. The brick and tile industry provided employment to 800 persons, while the lime kilns engaged 420 in 1901.

POTTERIES

The first noteworthy pottery was opened at the hands of the Governor of Bombay in 1877 at Naigaum road and was known as the Pherozshah Pottery Works, white clay was obtained from Cutch-Bhuj and Jabalpur, and red clay from Kurla. Pottery was manufactured at about 20 places in the north of the island in 1909. The J. J. School of Art Pottery which was made from Santa Cruz and Cutch clay was regarded to possess a high order of merit. The industry provided employment to about 750 workers in 1901.

MARBLE WORK

The pioneers of marble(Though India abounds in marbles of various kinds and shades, most of the marble was imported to Bombay from Italy and other parts of Europe and America in the form of blocks or slabs. The masons of Porbandar have adorned many of the beautiful facades in the city.) industry in Bombay were Messrs. F. Mureglia & Co., Italian by birth, who owned a shop in Fort area. The majority of marble carvers in Bombay were Christians as Hindus believed super-stitiously that this work portends calamities. Marble industry provided employment to 850 persons in 1901.

SOAP MANUFACTURING

The first soap factory was opened at Mahim in about 1879, the same being taken over by a Parsi subsequently. There were 19 soap factories in Bombay in 1909. The principal raw materials comprised castor oil, cocoanut, mhowra seed and caustic soda. Castor oil was used for soft soap supplied to the mills for sizing purposes and also for manufacturing Turkey red oil. Marine soap was manufactured from cocoanut oil, toilet soap was prepared from mhowra seed oil, while tallow was added to give aroma to the soap.

LEATHER INDUSTRY

It is one of the oldest cottage industries, which employed 5,500 workers in Bombay in 1901. Good quality shoes, saddles, bags and oil jars (called dabaro) were made in the European fashion by the city artisans. In earlier times army accoutrements, manufactured in Bombay were supplied to the British troops. Mr. Tanner of Bombay is said to have made a large fortune in this business during the Mutiny of 1857.

Sir Adamji Peerbhoy opened a large tannery and factory, worked  (It was named as Western India Boot and Equipment Factory.) by machinery near Dharavi in 1887 which turned out excellent work. A considerable quantity of tanned leather was exported to Europe and Africa. The chief articles manufactured included saddlery, boots, shoes, belts, trunks, bags and various smaller articles. The factory was managed by European supervisors, and provided employment to 1,000 workers. The leather used was mainly harness leather, bridle leather, hog-skins, calf patent leather, sheep skin, bag hide and gaiter hide. A very little Russian leather was used as the Bombay climate was not suitable for the same. American leather was imported from London.

Besides the industries narrated above, there were several small industries which may appear insignificant in the context of the mammoth industrial growth of this industrial city of today. But they were of immense significance in those times when industrialisation was only in its infancy. Most of them combined industry and artisanship with aesthetic value. Their products were not only useful but were also artistic. A men­tion must be made of the manufacture of sweetmeats with very rich tastes and flavours. Besides the usual ingredients, the sweetmeats contained almonds, pistachios, saffron, cardamom, nutmegs, rosewater, etc., which can hardly be dreamt of today. The Bombay sweets were exported to Europe, Africa, China as also to all parts of India. While sweetmeats makers numbered 350, the sellers numbered 1,400 in 1901in Bombay.

Bakers numbered 1,400 in Bombay in 1901. One of the best known bakeries of old times was established by a Goanese in Old Hanuman Cross Lane in the first decade of the nineteenth century. Besides Goanese, Mughals, Muhammadans and later Parsis, dominated this industry. The Jariwalas engaged in the recovery of gold and silver from old embroidery had a thriving industry in Bombay. They had a perfect technique of extracting the valuable metals from old jari clothes.

Brass and copper craftsmen produced household utensils, lamps, chattis of all shapes and sizes and water pots and lotas of all descriptions. The copper bazar opposite Mumbadevi Tank, was the busiest street in the city in those times as it is today. There were about 4,000 brassworkers and coppersmiths and 5,000 blacksmiths ia Bombay in 1901.

Though sculpture could not be said to be an industry, stone-carving was carried on in the form of architectural ornamentation on a large scale in Bombay. Stone carving was also taught as a subject of studies in the Sir J. J. School of Art.

Then there were three candle manufactories which manufactured pure wax candles for the use of churches, and two others which prepared parafin candles by machinery. Some other industries were engaged in wire-drawing for embroidery and lace work and electro-plating and silver-plating of trays. Their products were valued for the aesthetic sense of the craftsmen. Bombay had also quite a few expert Chinese caneworkers whose products were in demand from the European community in India and the Par si gentry of the city.

FACTORY INDUSTRIES

As stated earlier the history of factory industries in Bombay can be traced to 1676 when the Mint of the East India Company was established. This was followed by establishment of a cotton pressing factory in 1694, which was in the nature of machinery for screwing loose bales of cotton into size suitable for export. These presses were then known as screwing houses, and the machine themselves consisted, in 1809, of a square wooden frame in which cotton was placed surmounted by a beam of great weight which was fixed to the end of a powerful screw. This screw was worked by a capstan in a chamber above to each bar of which there were often 30 men. They turned ths screw with great swiftness at first shouting the whole time, the shouts ending in something like loud groans as the labour became heavier. Bombay city contained 13 cotton presses in 1868. This industry however declined mainly because much of the cotton pressing was done in the cotton growing districts of the Bombay Presidency to save the cost of transport to Bombay. In 1909 there were only seven cotton presses employing 600 operatives.

In 1725 Bombay contained a wind mill for the grinding of wheat, situated on the Esplanade. It existed quite for long but found its closure in 1808.

Industrialisation in Bombay gathered momentum in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The factories gradually eclipsed the handicrafts for which the city was famous at one time.

The period between 1860 and 1865 was one of feverish activity in Bombay, and was marked by progress in every respect. The railway communication of the island advanced noticeably with the opening of the Bhor Ghat on 21 April 1863. The opening of the first section of the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway in 1860 encouraged the growth of trade and industry in Bombay. Further encouragement was afforded by the institution of regular service of coasting steamers and by the opening of the Suez Canal. The latter development in 1869 effected a complete revolution in the carrying trade of Bombay, which had upto that date been restricted by a lengthy voyage round the Cape of Good Hope.

The third fundamental cause of the growth of Bombay was the enormous increase in the cotton trade and the subsequent Share Mania(For details of the upheavals which accompanied the Share Mania, see Gazetteer of Bombay City'and Island, Vol. II, 1909, pp. 163-69.) of the years 1861-65. The out-break of the Civil War in America, which at once cut off the supply of American staples gave unprecedented spurt to the export demand for cotton, piece goods and other articles. So sudden was the demand, so high the range of prices, so vast the profits, that a boom set in which gave rise to what was called the Share Mania. Adventurers from all parts were attracted to Bombay, all sorts of ingenious schemes were devised for putting the newly acquired wealth to use. Apart from making a good fortune on the Stock Exchange a good amount of money was invested in establishment of joint-stock companies.

By 1865, there were ten mills working with 2,50,000 spindles and 3,380 looms. They provided employment to 6,600 workers and consumed about 42,000 bales of cotton.

With the rapid growth of industries the Factory Act (The Factory Act originally appears to be applicable to factories employing more than 50 workers) was enacted in 1881 for the first time and it was amended in 1891 to meet the requirements of proper control and direction of industries. In 1908 the total number of factories falling within the scope of the Factory Act was 166 of which half were cotton mills. Most of these factories worked throughout the year and provided employment to 107,739 men, 23,767 women and 4,157 children. (It appears that child labour was not forbidden under the Factory Act of 1881)

The following table shows the classwise total number of factories in Bombay city in 1892, 1896, 1901 and 1908:—

	1892	1896	1901	1908
Cotton mills	64	68	76	85
Silk mills	1	2	2	2
Woollen mills	2	2	1	3
Hosieries	3	2	2	2
Cotton presses and gins	11	9	8	7
Dye works	2	2	2	4
Flour mills	3	5	5	5
Oil mills	2	2	1	1
Tannery		1	1	1
Saw mills and timber works	1	2	2	2
Iron Works and Foundries	8	8	8	15
Locks and cutlery works			1	1
Metal works				2
Tin works			1	3
Paper mills				1
Workshops	6	6	1	9
Art manufacture	1	1	7	1
Gasworks	1	2	2	2
Gun carriage factory	1	1	1
Arsenal	1	1	1	1
Mint	1	1	1	1
Dockyards	4	4	3	3
Printing Presses	7	9	10	16
Power generator*				1
Bone mill				1
Total   ..	119	128	138	166

(It was owned by the Bombay Electric Supply and Tramway Company)

It would be evident from the above table that by 1908, the most impor­tant industry in Bombay city was the cotton textiles, followed by printing presses, iron works and foundries and workshops. The number of cotton textile mills increased from 64 in 1892 to 85 in 1908 providing an average daily employment to about 101,536 persons. The number of iron works and foundries increased from eight in 1892 to 15 in 1908, and the number of printing presses from seven in 1892 to 16 in 1908. Most of the workshops belonged to the railways. Among the notable iron works was the Byculla Iron Works now known as Richardson Cruddas. Godrej Boyce and Company was the foremost. The Bombay Gas Company came into existence in 1863 and gas light was introduced in Bombay in 1866. These obviously excluded the factories which were not within the purview of the Factory Act as they were working with less than 50 operatives and many of them were without power-driven machinery. Among this category were Sugar factories (8 in number), Rope factory (1), Grain Crushing Mills (6), Carriage Factories (6), Mechanical and Iron Works, Iron and Brass Foundries and Smithies (68), Soda Water Factories (22), Ice Factories (5), Oil Factories (3), Flour Mills (8), Woollen and Cotton Cleaning Factories (6), Saw Mills (4), Printing Presses (39), Lithographic Presses (5), Chemical Works (3), Button Factory (1), Dyeing Works (7) and Miscellaneous (10).

Cotton Textile Mills(Detailed history is given subsequently in this chapter.): The manufacture of yarn and cloth by machinery is the prime industry of Bombay city ever since the dawn of industria­lization. Although to Bengal belongs the honour of opening the first factory for spinning cotton by steam power in India, it is Bombay which has been a home of the industry. The first cotton mill was erected on the banks of the Hughli in Bengal in 1818. The first mill in Bombay was projected by Mr. Cowasji Nanabhai Davar in 1851 under the name of Bombay Spinning and Weaving Company. It commenced work in 1854 (1856 according to some source.) as a joint-stock company. The Oriental Spinning and Weaving Company was opened in 1858 with a capital of Rs. 25 lakhs. By 1865 there were altogether ten mills in the city. They provided employment to 6,600 persons and consumed about 42,000 bales of cotton annually. The industry suffered a temporary glut in 1865-66 mainly due to the abnormal price of raw cotton and also due to the agents and directors of companies having taken large advances from banks at exhorbitant rates of interest and due to lack of demand on account of financial crash after the boom. This was however a very short-lived phase and the demand started pick­ing up in the domestic and European markets from 1867. This could be attributed to the fact that the Bombay goods were durable than the finer and heavily processed cloth produced in England.

Seventeen new mills had been established between 1870 and 1875, thus making a total of 27, working with 7,52,634 spindles, 7,781 looms, the capital investment in the industry being Rs. 2,24 lakhs. It was from 1875 that the cotton industry in Bombay registered a rising trend upto 1898 in which year the number of mills stood at 82. Between 1892 and 1898 the  total number of factories in the island rose from 119 to 136, the increase being almost entirely due to the opening of new cotton mills. It is remarkable that this increase was inspite of the belief that a fall in price of silver had a depressing impact upon trade and despite the fact that there was a rapid glut in Chinese market, which was a principal buyer of Bombay yarn. (The severe epidemic of plague and famine in 1896 exercised a most depressing impact upon the industry for many years. The epidemic resulted into a flight of factory workers from the city who migrated to their native places due to the fear of death due to plague. There was thus an acute shortage of workers for a couple of years)

The condition of the industry was described as' most critical' in 1899; and by the end of that year nearly all the mills were closed for three days in a week while some were wholly stagnant. The number of mills was reduced to 79 in 1904. It was from 1903 that the condition of the industry began to improve and by 1905 and 1906 the industry experienced conditions of revival.

The demand for cloth had increased and the general condition of growth was quite satisfactory. In 1908, there were 85 mills, with 2,734,863 spindles and 35,967 looms. They provided an average daily employment to 101,536 workers, and consumed 1,200,000 bales of cotton.

The Bombay mill-owners had many advantages over their western counterparts. The labour was cheap and abundant. Though the cost of erecting machinery was comparatively high and the quality of raw cotton low, the Bombay cotton had definite advantages.

The Bombay mills produced about 360 million pounds of yarn in the year ending with March 1909. The yarn was partly consumed in the local mills and was partly exported to other parts of India and to China. The total exports to China were about 6,80,000 bales per annum.

The cloth produced in Bombay amounted to about 110 million lbs. The principal varieties manufactured being shirting, long cloth, T-cloth, domestic, sheeting’s, chadars, dhoties, drills, jeans and tent cloth. Coloured piece-goods were also woven. The cotton weaving industry was just emerging by the first decade of this century. It had to face keen compe­tition with imported Manchester goods of a superior quality. But the Swadeshi movement which had taken roots at the beginning of this century had given a distinct impetus to Bombay mills. Before the outbreak of first World War, Bombay cloth was exported to Arabia, Mozambiqe, Zanzibar, Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and Turkey. The Bombay mills, with the exception of a few belonging to private owners, were limited liability, companies, governed under the provisions of the Companies Act of 1866 and 1882. Their affairs were supervised by Boards of Directors and managed by a Secretary or a firm of agents.

The total amount of paid-up capital of the Bombay cotton mills was Rs. 6.5 crores, besides loans and debentures which approximated to an equal amount in 1909. There was a good demand for their shares and financial position quite sound. The mill owners belonged to the Vani, Bhatia, Parsi, Muhammadan and Jew communities. In 1909 the Bombay cotton mills provided employment to about 98,000 workers, most of them were from the Konkan region. Some of the managers and skilled officers, such as weaving and spinning masters were Europeans, while the affairs of many mills were managed by Indians. Occasions of strikes were extremely rare. Hours of york and other conditions were governed under the Indian Factories Act XV of 1881 (as amended by Act XI of 1891).

Silk Mills : Prior to World War I there were two silk mills in Bombay. The Sassoon and Alliance Mill, (It was formerly known as Sassoon Silk Mill, but was then renamed due to amalgamation of Alliance Silk Mill in 1883.) established in 1875 near Victoria Gardens was the largest mill in the Bombay Presidency manufacturing silk yarn and cloth for the Indian and Burma markets. It was a joint-stock concern with a capital investment of Rs.10 lakhs. Its annual production was about 70,000 lbs. and provided employment to 490 workers in 1908-09.

The silk industry had to face competition from Japan. Raw material was mainly imported from China and Bengal. The chief fabrics were saris, skirts, headgear, satin goods, jackets, handkerchiefs, scarves and other dress lengths. Even gold thread was used for costly saris while printing in various colours and designs was also done in these mills.

Woollen Mills: The first woollen mill known as the Bombay Woollen Manufacturing Company was established in 1888 with a capital of Rs. 4 lakhs. It was followed by the Sohrab Woollen and Cotton Mill in the same year. It however shifted to manufacturing of only cotton goods. Prior to the World War I there were only two woollen mills in Bombay, one producing its own worsted yarn from Australian wool and wove woollen blankets etc., while another knitted jerseys and caps from imported worsted yarn.

Hosiery Industry : Hosiery was manufactured in five cotton mills, as well as in two separate hosiery factories. They together manufactured about 3,82,000 lbs. of hosiery goods per annum. The industry however was faced with keen competition from Japanese and European imports. The obsolete machinery was another handicap which halted growth.

Dyeing Industry : There were four dyeing factories in Bombay which dyed cotton yarn from local mills for export to various parts of India and Burma. They provided employment to a large number of workers, the Khatau Makanji Dye Works being the largest factory in Bombay.

Foundries and Metal Works : The history of foundries in Bombay can be traced to the year 1857 when the Byculla Iron Works and Metal Mart was established by Mr. N. C. Richardson. There ware 15 foundries in Bombay in 1909. They provided employment to nearly 5,900 operatives. Richard­son and Cruddas was the largest engineering works in India, affording employment to 2,000 persons. It had two workshops, each containing foundries capable of dealing with the heaviest casting required in trade, patterns shops, smithshops, fitting and machine-shops and a large structural steel boiler department. It turned out steel and other work for the Indian Railways and roof trusses of various types for government offices. The products of this firm were sent to all parts of India, Burma, East Africa and the Straits Settlements.

There were six metal, cutlery and tin works in Bombay, the major among them being Asiatic Petroleum Oil Works, Burma Oil Works and the Godrej, Boyce & Co. The first two factories were mainly tin works while the third one was engaged in black-smithy, cutlery and safe making The six factories provided employment to about 1,210 workers.

Engineering Workshops : There were nine engineering workshops in 1909 including the two workshops of the Great Indian Peninsula Railway and one of the Bombay, Baroda and Central India Railway. The rest of six workshops were owned by the Bombay Port Trust, Bombay Electric Supply & Tramway Co., Municipal Corporation, Bombay Steam Navigation Co., Bombay Electric Co., and Vulcan Works. The nine workshops provided employment to 13,533 workers.

The original locomotive works of the G.I.P. Railway were opened at Byculla about 1854. The workshop was however shifted to a spacious place to Parel in 1878 for expansion, where it is situated even to the present day. With further expansion of railway operations the carriage and wagon shops of the railways were shifted to Matunga by the end of the first decade of the century. The Matunga railway workshop has lived up to its reputation for renovation and even building up of special carriages even up to the present day (1982). The G.I.P. Railway Company's workshops employed more than 7,500 workers in 1909. They were mainly engaged in repair of carriages and wagons, and other railway accessories.

The Parel workshops of the B.B. & C.I. Railway were opened in 1868 after abandonment of the original works at Amroli. The Parel work­shops provided employment to 4,062 workers in 1909. They were mainly engaged in repairing the railway company's rolling stock and in building carriages and wagons of every description. Locomotives were imported from England and fitted up in the workshops. (For details see Gazetteer of Bombay City and Island, Vol. I, 1909, pp. 502-04.)

Paper Industry : The Girgaum Paper Mill, the oldest in India, was established in Bombay in 1862. It was also the only paper mill in Bombay. Its production was to the tune of 250 tons in 1908. It produced various classes of paper and employed about 50 hands. It however suffered from the competition ot the Bengal and Poona Paper.

Gas Work : The Bombay Gas Company commenced the erection of its works in Parel (now in Lalbaug) in 1863. The gas light was introduced in 1866. The machinery was initially of a crude type, and there were no arrangements for purifying the gas. Originally the works contained two gas-holders with a capacity of 1,50,000 cubic feet apiece, and both telescopic with two lifts.

In 1892 a new holder was erected with a capacity of 2,40,000 cubic feet. The bulk of the coal used was Australian and Indian, with an occasional English consignment.

There were 700 public lamps in 1868 which increased to 4,000 in 1894. They were furnished with incandescent burners in 1894 instead of the for­mer flat flame burners. The main pipe from the main works was 24 inches in diameter. The original gas pipes were of lead but were substituted by wrought iron pipes due to frequent damages. The mains were of cast iron with lead joints. The Bombay gas afforded not only the modernisation but also gave fillip to industrial growth in the city.

This was the stage of industrialisation of this great city of India on the eve of the First World War. Though it was not comparable to the state of industrialisation of the principal cities in England and Europe, Bombay laid the foundations of the future growth of industrialisation in India by providing a definite base, and by training technical personnel and skilled workers. The Bombay industry also encouraged the development of a class of entrepreneurs and a capital market which fostered the development not only of the city but also of the country as a whole.

It would therefore, be most pertinent to give a very brief account of the registered companies and their capital during the gestation period of industrial growth in Bombay. The following statement shows the number of registered companies in Bombay and their position of capital during the four decades ending 1905-06 and in 1908-09 :—

Year	No. of Companies	Nominal Capital in Lakhs of Rs.	Paid up Capital in Lakhs of Rs.	Average number of Companies registered annually
1875-76	75	859	356
1885-86	147	1028	802	14
1895-96	191	1322	880	14
1905-06	241	1889	1303	14
1908-09	308	2940	1864

It would be evident from the above statement that the number of registered companies which was 75 in 1875-76 increased to 308 in 1908-09, thus recording an increase of slightly less than 320 per cent during the period of 33 years. It means that the number of companies increased by about 10 per cent per annum during this period. The greatest increase took place during the period of 10 years from 1875 to 1886 which was to the extent of 96 per cent. This was nothing but spectacular. Corresponding to the increase in companies during this period (320 per cent) the nominal capital increased by 243 per cent and the paid-up capital increased by 248 per cent i.e. virtually of the same order from 1886 onwards.

The distribution of these companies, industry-wise, at the close of the year 1908-09 was as under:—

Classification of companies	No. of companies	Nominal capital (Rs.)	Paid-up capital (Rs.)
1	2	3	4
(I) Banking, Loans and Insurance	18	4,84,05,000	1,38,51,703
(1) Banking and Loan	9	3,36,95,000	1,26,77,693
(2) Insurance	9	1,47,10,600	11,74,010
(II) Trading	97	7,01,84,000	4,59,30,746
(3) Navigation	4	1,27,50,000	78,72,338
(4) Railways and Tramways	9	2,46,00,000	1,87,76,198
(5) Co-operative Associations	2	3,50,000	91,940
(6) Printing, Publishing and Stationer:	10	17,90,000	4,47,910
(7) Others	72	3,06,94,000	1,87,42,360
(III) Mills and Presses	169	13,63,04,625	10,77,15,596
(8) Cotton Mills	100	11,43,61,200	9,14,69,011
(9) Mills for Wool, Silk hemp, etc.	6	47,25,000	46,37,000
(10) Cotton and Jute Screws and Presse	52	11,54,84,425	95,97,230
(11) Flour Mills	3	14,70,000	10,06,200
(12) Saw and Timber Mills	1	8,00,000	5,00,000
(13) Other Mills and Presses	7	34,00,000	5,06,155
(IV) Tea and other Planting Companies	1	50,000	38,950
(V) Mining and Quarrying	7	2,56,75,000	76,25,380
(14) Coal	1	3,00,000	2,03,240
(15) Others	6	2,53,75,000	74,22,140
(VI) Land and Building	8	1,22,80,000	1,01,81,635
(VII) Ice Manufacturing       .	2	9,77,600	7,06,075
(VIII) Sugar Manufacture	3	9,00,000	2,91,535
(IX) Others	3	1,00,000	96,000
Total	308	29,48,76,625	18,64,37,620

It would be evident from the above table that the largest number of companies were under the category of mills and presses accounting for about 55 per cent of the total number of companies, followed by trading companies which constituted about 33 per cent of the total number of companies. The mills and presses accounted for slightly more than 44 per cent of the nominal capital and slightly more than 50 per cent of the paid-up capital. Trading companies followed the mills and presses in respect of nominal and paid-up capital.

The industrial growth which took place in the first decade of this century was very rapid as compared to the earlier period. That was why the late Justice M. G. Ranade was tempted to describe this industrial progress as industrial revolution. It was obviously the spirit of Swadeshi and awareness of the necessity of the economic growth of the country which promoted slowly this measure of industrial growth by the beginning of this century.

Top

INDUSTRIAL GROWTH AFTER WORLD WAR I

Three factors contributed to speed up, even though slow in nature, the industrial growth of the country subsequent to the declaration and end of the First World War. These were political, economic and social.

Though the British Government was responsible for the introduction of the system of education, it did not provide enough employment oppor­tunities to the educated people. They, therefore, began to examine the causes of the country's poverty and obviously held foreign rule responsible for economic backwardness. The victory of Japan over Russia further gave stimulus to the thought that if a small Asian power could defeat Russia, it should not be difficult for a country like India to achieve a position of eminence. The Government also wanted the co-operation of the rising capitalist class in India for the effective protection of the British rule. Moreover, the war thoroughly exposed the industrial backwardness of India. To appease the public opinion, the government declared "responsible Government" as an objective of political policy and industrialisation as an objective of its economic policy. With this aim in view, the Government appointed an Indian Munition Board. Its main task was to suggest suitable measures required for the effective handling of the war. The object of the appointment of the Industrial Commission was to explore the possibilities of development of industries in India. The Government accepted, as a token of this policy, the principle of fiscal autonomy convention, and subsequently appointed the Fiscal Commis­sion to consider the ways and means of suggesting the type of protections to be given to Indian industries for their development. The Fiscal Com­mission recommended the policy of "discriminating protection". As a result of the recommendations of the Fiscal Commission, the Tariff Board was appointed to consider the cases of award of protection to Indian industries. It was under the stimulus of protection that some measures of industrialization took place. The Fiscal Commission did not take an integrated view of the entire industrial development of the country. It considered the case of each and every industry separately. However, whatever might be the limitations of the policy of protection, it did begin an era of industrial development in this country. The Bombay industry, in particular, was the greatest beneficiary of the policy of protection.

The commencement of First World War in 1914 had an adverse impact on the growth of new cotton mills in Bombay. The stoppage of machinery shipments from Lancashire to India created difficulties in mill industry in Bombay for many years, and even after restoration of peace in 1918 the high increase in the cost of land and building prevented the construction of new mills. However large extensions to existing plants and machinery were made during this period. (S. M. Rutnagur, Bombay Industries : Cotton Mills, 1927.) A number of private concerns were converted into joint-stock companies. This led to increase in the paid-up capital of many companies to a great extent.

An important event in the industrial sector of Bombay in 1915 was that the cotton mills commenced working with electric power supply from the Tata Hydro-Electric works which was registered in 1910. The boom period for Bombay mills started in 1918 which laid tc extensions in existing mills in the next year. The year 1919 witnessed the formation of the Bombay European Textile Association by Europeans engaged in the management of the cotton textile mills in Bombay to protect their mutual interests and to advance prospects of the industry. The textile experts from Lancashire and other parts of Europe had been instru­mental in educating Indians in spinning, weaving and finishing of cotton goods. The organisation promoted research work relating to the industry and protected the interest of the personnel.

The first trade union of textile workers in Bombay, viz. the Girni Kamgar Sangh, was established in 1919. A good deal of work in the interest of the working class was done by the Bombay Social Service League which came into existence at the inspiration of Mr. Gopal Krishna Gokhale. The League was managed with praiseworthy energy and ability by Mr. N. M. Joshi, a prominent member of the Servants of India Society. Till about 1920, the Social Service League was the pioneer of the interest and welfare of mill workers, and it carried on its work in many mills with the co-operation of the millowners.

The year 1920 was marked by strikes in the textile mills. The strikers enjoyed the sympathies of the leaders of national freedom movement. The incidence of strikes led to the appointment of a Labour DisputeCommittee in Bombay in 1921. Prior to 1925, textile trade unions were not organised properly. They had hardly any sound basis. In 1925, there were five associations. The most important among them was the Bombay Textile Labour Union, while each of the remaining four was called the Girni Kamgar Mahamandalas The four Mahamandals were specified by their localities, viz., Chinchpokli, Prabhadevi, Colaba and Gholapdeo. The Girni Kamgar Sangh (1919) which was brought to life in 1923 was renamed as MahamandaL The formation of the Bombay Textile Labour Union in 1926 was an important event in the history of trade unionism in Bombay.

The regulation of cotton trade in the city was in the hands of many commercial associations until 1917. A single agency for control of trade was introduced by appointment of the Cotton Contracts Committee which was replaced by the Cotton Contracts Board. It was in 1922 that the East India Cotton Association was established after an enactment in the Bombay Legislative Council for the control of Cotton trade of Bombay. The New Cotton Exchange building was opened in December 1925 for proper handling of cotton trade. The institution of a Clearing House in 1918 was another important innovation which had done a lot of good for cotton trade and industry. It was organised on the model of the Liverpool Clearing House. The total amounts handled by the Bombay Clearing House were as under:—

Year	Rupees*	Year	Rupees*
1921-22	12,98,94,566	1923-24	9,16,95,270
1922-23	7,69,37,399	1924-25	3,18,59,196

(S. M. Rutnagur, op. cit.)

The cotton market in Bombay was then the largest in Asia.

The Indian Factories Act was amended in 1922, while the Smoke Nuisance Committee was also appointed in the same year in Bombay.

The Bombay textile industry was in the grip of a depression in 1923 and there was a decline in profits. The speculative activities coupled with banking difficulties of mill Agents necessitated further changes in the mill Agencies. The constitution and management of mills in Bombay was much different in 1925 than the pre-war years. There was a trail of strikes in 1923, 1924 and 1925. The strike in cotton mills in Bombay in 1925 was the longest in history upto that year. These events led to the appointment of the Bonus Dispute Committee in 1923, and enactment of the Workmen's Compensation Act in 1925.

Separation of the Bombay Millowners' Association from the Bombay Chamber of Commerce in 1923 was also an important event in the city.The Bombay Millowners' Mutual Insurance Association and the Indian Central Cotton Committee were established in 1923. Excise duty which hampered the interests of the Indian textile industry was repealed in 1925.

The most important events in Bombay industries in 1926-27 were the appointment of the Tariff Board to enquire into the causes of the depression in the Bombay cotton mill industry and the resolution of the Government of India on the report of the Tariff Board. The Board conducted an inquiry in Bombay and Ahmedabad as regards the causes of depression, the competition from Japan and England, the need for protection to cotton industry and the general condition of the industry. The depression was found to be more acute in Bombay than in other centres. The competition from Japan yarn had a depressing effect on the Bombay industry which lost a big market in China. The depreciation of the Japanese Exchange also stimulated exports from Japan to India which was a blow to the indigenous industry. The recommendations of the Board were however deemed to be meagre in regard to the ailments and problems of the industry which needed a more adequate measure of protection than recommended by the Board. The Conference of Millowners, held at Bombay on June 20, 1927 pointed out that the reasons advanced by Government for withholding protection were absolutely untenable and strongly urged for adequate protection to the Indian Textile industry.

The Government of India reconsidered its earlier decision in certain respects and granted some protection to the textile industry. While the plea for imposition of import duty on imports of piece-goods was rejected by the Government, the removal of the imports duty on machinery and materials of the industry as recommended by the Fiscal Commission was accepted. The latter measure was beneficial for the Bombay industry. This encouraged growth and buoyancy in the industry, which continued till 1938. The textile industry had a set-back for a short interval in 1939-40 during which some of the mills preferred to switch over to other avenues of production. Throughout the span of World War II, the cotton textile industry in Bombay experienced buoyancy which could mainly be attributed to the unprecedented demand for cloth in the domestic market as imports were virtually restricted to meet the necessities of the war. There was a huge demand from the British Government to meet the requirements of the British Army. In short, the World War provided an unprecedented impetus to the cotton textile industry of Bombay.

Another important industry which grew in Bombay after the First World War was the pharmaceutical industry. It received encouragement during the First World War due to a steep increase in demand and a virtual stoppage of imports. The cessation of the war sharpened the competition from imports which gave a blow to the infant industry. It was however after 1930 that many new medicinal preparations were manufactured in Bombay, and the industry maintained a steady pace of growth upto the outbreak of the World War II. Many companies of British, German and American origin undertook production in Bombay. A number of new preparations came to be manufactured. The industry enjoyed an unprecedented boom during the war of 1939-45. The country became virtually self-sufficient in the production of vaccines and sera. It was by 1943 that the indigenous producers could meet about 70 per cent of the demand for medicines in the Indian market.

The outbreak of the Second World War encouraged the emergence of two very important industries in Bombay, viz. automobile manufacuring and machine tool production. Both of them are highly sophisti­cated and developed industries which gave a fillip to the growth, of other ancillary industries. Till the beginning of the war all automobiles, parts thereof and machine tools were imported. During the war it was felt necessary to manufacture these vital products to meet the demands of civilians and the armed forces. The Government of India also encouraged the development of these industries by placing orders with Indian manu­facturers and by inviting technical experts from England to guide the Indian entrepreneurs. Firms like Godrej and Boyce and others took benefit of this encouragement and undertook production with technical foreign collaboration. The emergence of the Premier Automobiles at Bombay in 1944 was an important event as it pioneered the growth of the automobile industry in Bombay. However the plans of the Indian manufacturers were mainly confined to assembling as imported products dominated the market upto the dawn of Independence.

The food products industry developed on an organised scale during the inter-war period. With 16 working factories in 1923, the industry made very rapid progress and had 90 factories in 1940 in Bombay. The controls and rationing of food articles during the war and post-war periods gave an impetus to this industry. This can further be elaborated by the fact that due to rationing and controls, the processed foods and canned articles were increasingly used as substitutes for wheat flour and rice. The development of the industry in Bombay during the war was also due to the conditions of boom created by the demand on account of the war and considerable supplies of processed foods. There was some decline in the industry after the cessation cf hostilities. It is also note­worthy that although the number of factories increased from 1945 to 1950 by about 80 per cent, there was a decline in employment as also in the percentage share of this industry in the total factory employment in Bombay. This might be due to the post-war stagnation, a higher degree of mechanisation and labour saving methods of production. The resettlement of displaced persons from Pakistan after partition of India, in Bombay, the employment picture in this industry changed. The displaced persons, popularly known as Sindhis, took up to this industry on a large scale and started many very small establishments in the city, but in larger numbers in the suburbs. Over a period of 35 years from 1923 to 1957, the number of factories increased seventeen times and employment by nine times.

The overwhelming importance of the manufacturing sector in the economy of Bombay has always remained a unique feature of the city. It is therefore necessary to study the changes in the number of factories, volume of factory employment, pattern of variations in factory employment, structure of factory employment and size of factories from 1923 to 1957, for which period the data is uniformly available.

It is however necessary to caution that a broad picture of the evolution of the organised employment can be obtained from 1934 to 1957, while the data prior to 1923 reveals a trend of development of factory employ­ment. This is mainly because the factories were governed by the Factories Act of 1881 (as amended in 1891 and other years) before 1934. Upto that year the Factories Act was applicable to factories employing 20 or more persons and using power. The local authorities had however the discretion to extend the scope of the Act to cover factories employing 10 or more persons and working with or without power. This discretionary power does not, however, appear to have created much impression on the employment picture. In 1938, 287 factories covered under the discre­tionary powers of the local authorities employed only 5,065 persons as against the total of 881 factories providing employment to 2,40,511 workers.

The Factories Act of 1948 was made applicable to units employing 10 or more workers and using power and also to those employing 20 or more without using power. Even this extension in coverage of the Act made a difference of only 3,088 workers out of a total of 3,77,056 workers i.e. less than one per cent in 1949. The employment data over the entire period is therefore broadly comparable. (This analysis is based on the in-depth study of Bombay by Prof. D. T. Lakdawala, Prof. V. N. Kothari, Prof. Sandesara and Prof. P. A. Nair in Work, Wages and Well-being in an Indian Metropolis, 1963, University of Bombay)

As regards the individual industry groups, the classification adopted from 1950 onwards is different from that adopted during the previous years. Naturally the data relating to specific industry groups is incompara­ble. An attempt is made here to rearrange the data relating to some of the industries in earlier years and present the same in a comparable form with the prevailing classification.

It is noteworthy that the period of 35 years which is reviewed is charac­terised by events of great economic significance. The wild prosperity of the early twenties of this century, the Great Depression of 1929-30 which had a world-wide impact, and the subsequent economic revival which characterised the period upto 1939 are all reflected in the employment figures. Then ensued the fateful Second World War and the subsequent boom, and the period of economic planning after Indian Independence.

(I) NUMBER OF FACTORIES

The number of working factories and the factory employment during the period 1923-57 are given in Table No. 1. The number of factories increased from 324 in 1923 to 3,400 in 1957. This meant an increase of more than ten times, which can be rated as an impressive growth in the economy of the city. Except for short-lived aberrations in some years such as, 1927, 1931, 1932, 1946, 1953 and 1954, the rise in number was continuous. Attention may however be drawn to the almost continued increase in the number of factories during 1928-36, when the level of employment was throughout lower than that prevailing in any previous year. Employment provided by factories suffered a decline from 2,10,215 in 1927 to 1,81,265 in 1928 which meant a fall by about 13.8 per cent. This was however accompanied by an increase in the number of factories from 384 in 1927 to 404 in 1928. The Factory employment reached the lowest level of 1,56,914 in 1933 which was lower by about 18.5 per cent as compared to the previous year. Even this decline in employment was accompanied by a rise in the number of factories from 411 to 425. The number of factories in Bombay increased from 472 in 1935 to 515 in 1936, although total employment actually fell from 1,95,696 to 1,87,869. Usually the periods of decline are characterised by decline in employment, particularly in unprofitable concerns. The paradoxical situation however was that employment declined while number of factories increased. The paradox could be explained by the fall in employment in the cotton textile mills in the face of increase in the number of factories in other industries. Actually the employment in cotton textiles declined by 17.3 per cent as compared to only 4.3 per cent in other industries. The employment provided by cotton mills in 1933 was lower by about a quarter as compared to that in 1932. The other industries were however able to maintain a status quo in employment.

The employment in textile factories dwindled by 4.9 per cent in 1936 over that in 1935. The corresponding fall in other industries was very small, viz. 1.6 per cent. The intensity of fall in the textile and non-textile industries was thus very different in Bombay. The fact however remains that there was a decline in the non-textile factories during 1928-36 over that in 1926-27. The number of units in the non-textile sector which was 293 in 1927 increased to 310 in 1928 and to 414 in 1936. Thus the paradox of rise in number of factories in the face of decline in employment still remains to be explained.

TABLE No. 1
Working Factories and Factory Employment in Greater Bombay by Selected Industry Groups, 1923-1957

Year	Textile Industries		Metal and Engineering Industries			Printing, Publishing and Allied Industries		Chemical and Chemical products				Food Industries Except Beverages				All Industries
	No. of working factories	Employ- ment in reporting factories	No. of working factories	Employment in reporting factories		No. of working factories	Employment in reporting factories	No. of working facto- ries	Employ ment in reporting factories			No. of working factories		Employ- ment in working reporting factories		No. of facto- ries	Employ- ment in reporting Emplo- factories	Index of yment 1923= 100
(l)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)		(6)	(7)	(8)	(9)			(10)		(11)		(12)	(13)	(14)
1923	92	1,52,488	92	30,204		35	5,115	9	759			16		1,021		324	2,03,418	100
		(75.0)		(14.8)			(2.5)		(0.4)					(0.5)
1924	92	1,53,069	91	27,237		47	6,117	17	3,123			22		1,393		361	2,03,641	100
		(75.2)		(13.4)			(3.0)		(1.5)					(0.7)
1925	93	1,54,364	102	32,861		58	5,866	20	5,471			29		1,489		387	2,07,998	102
		(74.2)		(15.8)			(2.8)		(2.6)					(0.7)
1926	92	1,54,784	104	33,676		59	5,802	21	6,580			29		1,643		393	2,12,571	104
		(72.8)		(15.8)			(2.7)		(3.1)					(0.8)
1927	91	1,53,531	97	32,438		55	5,734	19	6,660			27		1,828		384	2,102,15	103
		(73.0)		(15.4)			(2.7)		(3.2)					(0.9)
1928	91	1,27,003	101	30,516		59	6,047	22	6,129			26		1,996		401	1,81,265	89
		(70.1)		(16.8)			(3.3)		(3.4)					(1.1)
1929	89	1,26,632 (69.9)	111	30,818 (17.0)		55	5,783 (3.2)	21	6,235 (3.4)			27		1,831 (1.0)		404	1,81,109	89
1930	89	1,34,482 (72.7)	112	26,444 (14.3)		58	5,531 (3.0)	22	6,289 (3.4)			29		1,957 (1.1)		419	1,85,064	91
1931	86	1,31,700 (73.9)	108	23,617 (13.3)		59	5,632 (3.2)	20	4,879 (2.7)			29		1,801 (1.0)		411	1,78,106	88
1932	85	1,47,180 (76.5)	103	21,789 (11.3)		58	5,614 (2.9)	22	5,151 (2.7)			30		1,926 (1.0)		411	1,92,418	95
1933	88	1,11,667 (71.2)	117	22,342 (14.2)		60	5,681 (3.6)	23	4,848 (3.1)			29		1,756 (11)		425	1,56,914	77
1934	82	1,16,723 (70.4)	122		23,763(04.3)	61	6,246 (3.8)	28		5,969 (3.6)	31		1,892 (1.1)		432		1,65,863		82
1935	94	1,41,913 (72.5)	132		25,130 (12.8)	62	6,297 (3.2)	30		6,464 (3.3)	33		2,192 (1.1)		472		1,95,696		96
1936	101	1,34,945 (71.8)	148		25,102 (13.4)	72	6,528 (3.5)	30		5,163 (2.7)	31		2,014 (1.1)		515		1,87,869		92
1937	107	1,57,260 (73.3)	175		26,014 (12.1)	86	7,129 (3.3)	31		3,426 (1.6)	31		2,731 (1.3)		585		2,14,406		105
1938	136	1,76,723 (73.5)	267		29,096 (12.1)	183	8,603 (3.6)	29		4,097 (1.7)	82		3,822 (1.6)		881		2,40,511		118
1939	130	1,54,197 (69.7)	277		30,672 (13.9)	197	8,660 (3.9)	29		3,292 (1.5)	84		4,356 (2.0)		939 (1)		2,21,376		109
1940	136	1,53,264 (66.8)	298		30,089 (13.1)	193	8,464 (3.7)	36		3,535 (1.5)	90		4,410 (1.9)		998 (4)		2,29,267		113
1941	145	2,04,307 (65.1)	329		46,780 (14.9)	194	8,833 (2.8)	46		4,505 (1.4)	73		6,031 (1.9)		1,010 (8)		3,14,045		154
1942	139	2,02,785 (60.2)	362		59,650 (17.7)	196	8,698 (2.6)	51		5,164 (1.5)	95		7,175 (2.1)		1,147 (7)		3,36,975		166
1943	153	2,21,752 (59.1)	394		75,224 (20.0)	185	9,237 (2.5)	63		6,782 (1.8)	94		8,006 (2.1)		1,251 (1)		3,75,502		185
1944	165	2,24,308 (57.2)	434		77,852 (19.8)	198	9,393 (2.4)	68		7,606 (2.0)	97		8,492 (2.2)		1,387 (7)		3,92,453		193
1945	175	2,25,222 (57.6)	465		77,220 (19.7)	207	10,156 (2.6)	75		57,61 (1.9)	99		9,115 (2.3)		1,481 (1)		3,91,081		192
1946	184	2,14,586 (59.8)	477		64,040 (17.9)	210	10,697 (3.0)	75		7,510 (2.1)	94		8,340 (2.3)		1,475 (6)		3,58,658		176
1947	192	2,19,244 (61.0)	489		68,082 (18.9)	223	12,147 (3.4)	72		8,123 (2.3)	108		7,403 (2.1)		1,502 (9)		3,59,380		177
1948	215	2,29,594 (60.7)	573		72,025 (19.0)	250	12,771 (3.4)	104		8,366 (2.2)	115		8,034 (2.1)		1,811 (9)		3,78,440		186
1949	274	2,24,378 (59.5)	743		73,903 (19.6)	321	13,935 (3.7)	152		12,429 (3.3)	173		9,249 (2.5)		2,309 (10)		3,77,056		185
1950	439 (55)	2,27,332 (60.4)	799 (91)		78,693 (20.9)	285 (37)	13,253 (3.5)	146 (16)		11,465 (3.0)	184 (33)		8,033 (2.1)		2,356 (327)		3,76,072		185
1951	427 (68)	2,34,818 (61.0)	802 (110)		73,031 (19.0)	285 (53)	13,970 (3.6)	176 (20)		13,467 (3.5)	199 (35)		8,194 (2.1)		2,532 (431)		3,84,840		189
1952	435 (92)	2,32,621 (61.6)	804 (155)		70,443 (18.7)	294 (54)	14,025 (3.7)	178 (20)		12,460 (3.3)	199 (34)		8,721 (2.3)		2,571 (527)		3,77,460		186
1953	368 (169)	2,33,533 (63.6)	770 (229)		64,072 (17.5)	269 (63)	12,959 (3.5)	161 (30)		13,129 (3.6)	173 (68)		7,758 (2.1)		2,231 (795)		3,66,936		180
1954	430 (70)	2,35,052 (62.2)	784 (95)		72,337 (19.1)	299 (25)	13,814 (3.7)	184 (16)		13,216 (3.5)	215 (28)		8,208 (2.2)		2,561 (353)		3,78,055		186
1955	464 (72)	2,50,197 (60.8)	845 (87)		80,041 (195)	307 (23)	14,594 (3.5)	191 (18)		14,275 (3.5)	233 (42)		8,798 (2.1)		2,751 (358)		4,11,395		202
1956	473 (73)	2,46,950 (58.7)	869 (79)		86,025 (20.4)	315 (27)	15,051 (3.6)	190 (10)		14,936 (3.5)	273 (30)		9,913 (2.4)		2,905 (323)		4,20,991		207
1957	458 (88)	2,43,645 (57.4)	919 (115)		91,405 (21.5)	317 (40)	14,739 (3.5)	195 (15)		15,855 (3.7)	275 (34)		9,997 (2.4)		2,960 (440)		4,24,706		209

Notes.—(1) Figures in brackets in column Nos. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 refer to non-reporting factories. The total of reporting and non-reporting factories will give the total number of working factories. For the years 1950 onwards information in regard to closed factories is also available. The number of closed factories was as follows : 1950-68; 1951-45; 1952-103; 1953-19; 1954-185; 1955-173; 1956-68; 1957-138. By adding the number of working factories to the number of closed factories, we can arrive at the number of registered factories.

(2) Figures in brackets in column Nos. 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 refer to the percentage of employment in each industry to total factory employment in each year.

It is noteworthy that the policy of discriminating protection might have changed the condition of several industries. Excluding the employment in government and semi-government factories, railway workshops, gas production, electricity generation, etc., which were mainly public utilities, we find that in the residual non-textile industrial sector, there was actually an increase in employment from 29,438 in 1927 to 30,385 in 1929, to 33,071 in 1934, and to 35,913 in 1935, with a nominal decline in 1936. The level of employment was at its lowest in 1931. Thus, the period 1927-30 was one of comparative stagnation in the residual non-textile industries. The year 1931 was however the worst. There was some revival in 1932. The employment position was static in 1933 though the number of non-textile factories increased to 302. From 1934, the employment in residual non-textile industrial sector revived rapidly, viz. 33,071 in 1934 to 35,913 in 1935 with a corresponding rise in factories from 315 to 342, respectively. The number of units in this sector increased by 35, though the employment therein fell by 718. The year 1937 witnessed a growth in employment to 38,479 accompanied by rise in number of factories to 438. "It will thus be observed' that the overall employment figures conceal the divergent changes that were occurring in various industries. The increase in the number of units in the face of an overall decline in employment was really in response to mildly expansionary tendencies prevailing in certain industrial sectors of the city."(D. T, Lakadawala, op. cit., p. 624)

(II) VOLUME OF FACTORY EMPLOYMENT

Factory employment registered a growth of more than 100 per cent over the period of 35 years from 1923 to 1957. It rose from 2,03,418 in 1923 to 4,24,706 in 1957. Besides 20,089 workers were estimated to be employed in the non-reporting factories in 1957. Thus actual factory employment was 4,44,795 in 1957 which meant an increase by 118.7 per cent over that in 1923. It is however noteworthy that since the level of employment was at its peak during the war, the level of employment in 1957 was higher by only 13.3 per cent over that in 1944.

The period of 1923-37 was characterised by conditions of near-stagna­tion in the Bombay industries. There was a nominal increase in employ­ment in 1926. The index of employment in 1926 stood at 104 with 1923 as the base year. It was from 1927 that industrial employment suffered a decline which was at its bottom in 1933. The index slumped down to 89 in 1928 without any change in 1929. There was some revival in 1930 which was short-lived. The index which had touched the 88 mark in 1931 registered another revival to 95 in 1932. The level of employment was the lowest in 1933 with the index number falling to 77 and actual employment falling by 46,504 over that in 1923. Though the fall in employment was not uniform in all the industries, the cotton textile industry was the worst hit. The variations in the general index were highly sensitive to the cotton textile industry as it provided the largest size of employment as compared to other industries.

There was marked improvement in the employment situation in 1934 and 1935, the index rising to 95 in 1935. It slumped to 92 in 1936. Thus, during the period 1927-36 the level could never rise over the 1926 level. The year 1937 witnessed a rise to 105 which reached the high mark of 11.8 in 1938. There was however a fall to 109 in 1939. The upheavals in employment were directly related to those in employment in cotton textile.

The Great World War accelerated the growth of employment and the insteadiness in the earlier period was converted into a consistently rising trend. The index of employment which was 113 in 1940 rose steeply to 154 in 1941. This was definitely the highest rate of growth during the period of 35 years under study. In absolute terms, employment rose by 84,778 in 1941 over that in 1940, which meant an escalation by 36.7 per cent in a single year. The upward trend continued till 1944 when the index attained the peak level of 193. It remained unsurpassed for many years to come. Factory employment stood at 3,92,453 in 1944 which was higher by 78,408 or 25 per cent as compared to the level in 1941. Thus, employment in Bombay increased at the rate of about 40,000 per annum over the four year period of 1941 to 1944. There was a very small decrease in the index (192) in 1945, the subsequent year recorded a sudden slump in the index to 176. In absolute terms, employment slumped by 33,795 in 1946 over that in 1944. The situation was almost similar in 1947. This stagnation in industry and employment was a natural corrollary of the cessation of the war. There was a sudden collapse in the cotton textile industry in 1946, which threw about 11,000 workers out of employment therein, while the number of mills was reduced by nine.

The index numbers of factory employment in 1948 and 1949 increased to 186 and 185, respectively. Employment in reporting factories was 3,76,072 in 1950 which was higher by 1,46,805 or 64 per cent as compared to 1940. The tremendous increase in the population of Bombay during the decade 1941-51, viz. from 16,95,168 to 28,39,270, is attributable to the increase in migration of workers to Bombay in search of employment.

The employment picture in the period 1950-53 lacks in clarity because a larger number of factories did not furnish reports. The situation from 1955 to 1957 can be assessed better because the Chief Inspector of Factories prepared estimates of probable employment in the non-responding factories from 1954 onwards. On the basis of the estimates of the Chief Inspector of Factories for the years 1954 to 1957, the employment in non-responding factories has been computed for the entire period of 1950-57, as under (D.T.Lakadawala,op.cit):—

Employment in Factories in Bombay, 1950-57

Year	Employment in reporting factories	Estimated employment in non-reporting factories	Total	Index of employment 1923=100	Index of employment 1950=100
1	2	3	4	5	6
1950	3,76,072	12,753	3,88,825	191	100
1951	3,84,840	16,809	4,01,649	197	103
1952	3,77,460	20,553	3,98,013	196	102
1953	3,66,936	31,005	3,97,941	196	102
1954	3,78,055	16,758	3,94,813	196	102
1955	4,11,395	11,785	4,23,180	208	109
1956	4,20,991	8,656	4,29,647	211	110
1957	4,24,706	20,089	4,44,795	219	114

It is evident from the above statistics that the index number of employ­ment surpassed the 1944 level only in 1951. It however declined by one count and remained stable in 1952 to 1954. In 1955, it gained a height of 208, and further rose to 211 in 1956 and to 219 in 1957. However the rate of growth in the period 1950 to 1957 though impressive, compared rather unfavourably with that during 1940-50. It should be admitted that the acceleration in employment during the war period was an uncommon phenomenon. The growth in employment from 1954 to 1957 was characterised by consistency and steadiness.

(III) PATTERN OF VARIATION IN FACTORY EMPLOYMENT IN BOMBAY, 1923-57

The statistics of variations in employment in textile industries; metal and engineering industries; printing, publishing and allied industries; chemicals and chemical products; food industries and total factory employment in Bombay furnished earlier in this chapter are self-evident. It is however of great interest to furnish some remarks on three broad periods, namely, the war-time expansion, the post-war decline and the period from 1953 to 1957.

As stated earlier, the factory employment in Bombay increased by 84,778 in 1941. The share of the textile industry was as much as 51,043 in this increase, while employment in other industries increased by about 33,000 i.e. from 76,003 in 1940 to 1,09,738 in 1941. Thus, while the textile industry registered an increase of 33 per cent, the non-textile sector expanded by 44 per cent. Factory employment increased further by 78,408 during 1942-44. The contribution of the textile industry to this increase was only 20,001, while the employment in the non-textile sector increased by 58,407. This represents a growth of 53 per cent in 1942-44 period over that in 1941. Employment in the non-textile industries thus increased from about 67,000 in 1939 to 1,68,000 in 1944. It appears that the metal and engineering industries exhibited rapid growth in this period, which is evident from the fact that employment therein increased from 30,672 in 1939 to 77,852 in 1944. This was really an impressive rate of growth from any standards. Although the impetus of growth on account of war-time boom ceased in 1945, the metal and engineering industries had firmly established themselves as one of the major industrial sectors in Bombay. The employment provided in the chemical industrial sector which was still in its infancy increased from 3,292 in 1939 to 7,706 in 1944. The factories engaged in army clothing the ordnance factories and the dock­yards, which were defence oriented industries, also registered substantial advance. In fact, the industries in other sectors also contributed to the expansionary phase.

In the nature of things, there was a sudden recession in factory employ­ment, by 32,423, in 1946 which could be attributed to the stagnation after the war. The stagnation was more marked in the metal and engineering industries as the employment therein receded by 13,180. The fall in employment in cotton mills was comparatively less severe, viz. by 10,636. The recession in the metal and engineering sector continued till 1949. In 1950, there was a short-lived revival and the size of employment therein exceeded the 1944 level. But it was followed by a relapse, and it was only in 1955 that employment exceeded the 1944 and 1950 level. This sector of industries has been steadily progressing since then.

The third period from 1953 to 1957 witnessed fluctuations in the textile industry which was fraught with inherent problems due to lack of moder­nisation and replacement of machinery. The chemical industries showed a slowly rising trend, while employment in metal and engineering advanced from 72,000 in 1954 to 91,000 in 1957.

(IV) STRUCTURE OF FACTORY EMPLOYMENT, 1923-57

The constraints of changes in classification of industries from time to time make it rather difficult to compare the structure of employment in one period with that in another. A broad comparison is however possible by rearranging the data relating to earlier years from some of the industries with the 1950 classification. The comparative data from 1923 to 1957 for the five major groups of industries in Bombay, namely, textile industries, metal and engineering industries, printing and publishing industries, chemical and chemical products, and food industries, except beverages, are furnished in Table No. 1.

These five groups of industries which accounted for 93.2 per cent of total factory employment in 1923, employed about 88.5 per cent of factory workers in 1957. It can be deduced that the miscellaneous industries progressed more during the period.

The textile industry continued to be the largest single industrial sector throughout the period under review. It however tended to decline in importance; though Bombay is still regarded as the home of the cotton textile industry. It provided employment to about 75 per cent of the industrial labour in 1923, which percentage declined to 70 per cent in 1939, to 60 per cent in 1946 and to about 57.4 per cent in 1957. It is interesting to note that though it enjoyed buoyancy during the war period, its share in the industrial employment in Bombay declined during the same period.

The importance of the other groups of industries increased relatively, the principal recipient being the group of metal and engineering which provided employment to 21.5 per cent of the industrial labour in 1957 as against 14.8 per cent in 1923. "Their rise was principally a war and post-war phenomenon." Its share in industrial employment was 19.8 per cent in 1944, and though the cessation of war gave it a blow, it progressed in subsequent years. It accounted for more than 21.5 per cent of the industrial employment and ranked the second largest industrial sector in 1957 in Bombay.

The printing and publishing industry employed 3.5 per cent of the workers in 1957 as against 2.5 per cent in 1933. The growth of this industry in terms of percentage growth in employment, viz. by one per cent, over a period of 35 years is by no means impressive. Chemicals and chemical products showed much greater progress. The food industries except beverages improved their position from less than one per cent at the beginning of the period to 2.4 per cent in 1957. " It may be concluded that the old established industries such as textiles were relatively declining while the non-textile industries in general were growing in importance." (D. T. Lakadawala, op. cit., p. 634.)

(V) SIZE OF FACTORIES

The average size of a factory as per the employment criterion is an important aspect in the study of industries. As per this criterion, every factory provided employment to 143 persons on an average in Bombay in 1957. A factory in the metal and engineering industry provided employment to 100 persons on an average. The changes in the pattern in this respect from 1951 to 1957 are given below:—

Size of Reporting Factories and Employment in them, 1951 and 1957

Size-Group	1951		1957
	Reporting factories		Reporting factories
	No.	Employment	No.	Employment
1	2	3	4	5
Less than 10	307 (12.1)	2,082 (0.5)	306 (10.3)	2,324 (0.5)
10-19	713 (28.2)	10,058 (2.6)	957 (32.3)	13,358 (3.1)
20-49	707 (27.9)	22,272 (5.8)	872 (29.5)	27,799 (6.5)
50-99	361 (14.3)	24,139 (6.3)	363 (12.3)	25,146 (5.9)
100-499	319 (12.6)	63,571 (16.5)	347 (11.7)	72,978 (17.2)
500-999	57 (2.3)	52,231 (13.6)	34 (1.1)	24,186 (5.7)
1,000-4,999	61 (2.4)	1,67,557 (43.5)	70 (2.4)	1,82,462 (43.0)
5,000 and above	7 (0.3)	42,930 (11.2)	11 (0.4)	76,453 (18.0)
Total	2,532 (100.0)	3,84,840 (100.0)	2,960 (100.0)	4,24,706 (100.0)

It is evident from the above statistics that the proportion of small-sized factories (i.e. those employing less than 100 persons) had remained almost unchanged, with a marginal increase from 82.5 per cent in 1951 to 84.4 per cent in 1957. The proportion of medium-sized factories (employing 100 to 999 workers) declined from 14.9 per cent to 12.8 per cent. The proportion of large-sized factories employing 1,000 and above remained unchanged. It must however be noted that the proportion of employment in large-sized factories increased from 54.7 per cent in 1951 to 61 per cent in 1957. This increase was at the cost of the medium-sized factories wherein the proportion of employment declined from 30.1 per cent to 22.9 per cent.

Besides the factories registered under the Factories Act, there was a considerable number of small units which were registered under the Bombay Shops and Establishments Act. A large proportion of these units were engaged either in production of consumer goods and ancillary parts required by factories. In the nature of things, this was essentially a self-employing sector and the average size of the unit was rather small.

WARD-WISE DISTRIBUTION OF FACTORIES AND EMPLOYMENT

Location of industries in a metropolis like Bombay is an important aspect in the study of industrial development and related problems of the city. The pattern of location of industries in Bombay is very defective. The city appears to be the result of blind growth with no control on the location of industry in the past. Consequently it is found that in predominantly residential areas about one-fourth of the buildings are of non-residential type. (C. Rajagopalan, op. cit.)The location of the industrial zone in the centre of the city has proved to be highly undesirable. The most important residential areas of the city are situated immediately to the north and south of the industrial quarter. Since the predominant character of the wind in Bombay is north-north-east and south-south west-west, the smokes, fumes and vapours emanating from these industries tend to exert a deleterious effect on the health of the residents on either sides. (Ibid.)

There has been a wide realization that the haphazard growth of this city has to be stopped and that a strategy of scientific town planning has to be launched. The gravity of the situation demands a purposeful strategy for relieving the congestion and prevention of further haphazard growth. It is therefore of great interest to study the existing pattern of ward-wise location of factories and to measure the degree of concentration of indus­tries in various wards. With this purpose in view, we have based our narrative of ward-wise distribution of factories on the study by the Bombay University School of Economics. ( D. T. Lakadawala, op. cit.) This is quite an indepth study and there is no parallel to it, particularly for the period covered by it (1956). The ward-wise distribution of factories and employment were worked out on the basis of addresses of factories as in the registers of the Chief Inspector of Factories in the year 1956. The classification of wards was as under :—

Ward                      Areas

A             ..              Colaba, Fort, Esplanade.
B             ..              Mandvi, Chakla, Umbarkhadi, Dongri.
C              ..             Khara Talao, Kumbharwada, Bhuleshwar, Crawford Market, Dhobi Talao, Fanaswadi.
D             ..              Khetwadi, Girgaum, Chowpati, Walkesliwar, Mahalaxmi.
E              ..              Tardeo, Mazagaon, Tarwadi, Nagpada, Kamathipura, Byculla.
F              ..              Parel, Sewri, Naigaum, Matunga, Sion.
G             ..              Dadar, Mahiin, Prabhadevi, Worli, Chinchpokli, Love Grove.

Ward-wise Distribution of Factories and Factory Employment, 1956

Ward		No. of Factories	Employment
A		211	14,750
		(6.5)	(3.4)
B		162	6,634
		(5.0)	(1.6)
C		231	4,591
		(7.2)	(1.1)
D		489	23,016
		(15.2)	(5.4)
E		656	91,548
		(20.4)	(21.3)
F		326	1,00,994
		(10.1)	(23.4)
G		408	1,27,289
		(12.7)	(29.6)
	Suburbs	745	60,825
		(23.0)	(14.2)
	Grand Total	3,228	4,29,647
		(100)	(100)

[Figures in brackets indicate percentages.]

The data refer to the working factories i.e. reporting as well as non-reporting factories. Employment data are inclusive of estimated employment in non-reporting factories.

(I) NUMBER OF FACTORIES

Of the 3,228 working factories in Bombay, 2,483 or about 77 per cent were distributed in the seven wards of the city and island and 745 or 23 per cent were located in the suburbs. The highest concentration of the factories in the city area was in the E ward where 656 or 20.4 per cent of the total factories were localised. F and G wards housed 326 and 408 factories or 10.1 and 12.7 per cent of the factories, respectively. Factories did not find a congenial home in A, B and C wards. Of these A ward housed mainly offices of government and commercial firms and banks, while B and C Wards had a number of shops and establishments. These three wards accounted for only 18.7 per cent of the factories. The average size of a factory in A, B and C wards was much smaller as compared to E, F and G wards. Thus in A, B and C wards the factories were not only fewer but also smaller. This is attributable to the fact that these wards are typically office, shop and commercial areas where the industrial units found it extremely difficult to obtain the required space at competitive rates. The chief industrial centres of Bombay were the D, E, F and G wards where as many as 1879 factories were concentrated. They accounted for about 60 per cent of the factories in Bombay. Among these wards, the highest concentration of industries was in E ward with 656 factories.

“This overall pattern of location held true for almost all industries, taken individually. Conspicuous exceptions were however provided by the tobacco, rubber and rubber products, non-metallic mineral products and cinema studios, where more than half of whose units were located in the suburbs. Printing, publishing and allied industries were another exception. About 60 per cent of the units in this group were equally distributed between A and D wards. Of 211 factories situated in A ward, as many as 104 or nearly half of the factories were printing, publishing and allied industrial units. Thus the typical industry of A ward was printing, publishing, etc. This different pattern of concentration of the printing and publishing industry may be explained largely by the fact that proximity to offices and trading concerns which are its chief customers is an important factor in the locational pattern of this industry and that many important offices and trading concerns were mainly located in A ward. Units engaged in leather and leather products and the products of petroleum and coal were mostly located in F ward. The miscellaneous industrial units were fairly well distributed among the various wards of the city, but showed a good deal of concentration in the suburbs where 35.5 per cent of the units were situated. Suburbs also claimed a fair share of the textile units amounting to 32.6 per cent or 178 of the total 546 textile factories. Lastly, we may draw attention to an almost complete absence (in 1956) of gins and presses, footwear and other wearing apparel group of industries, printing presses, leather and leather products industries and laundries in the suburbs. This then is the broad pattern of distribution of industrial units in Greater Bombay. However, in order to obtain the true picture of concentration, it is necessary to examine the distribution of factory employment as between various areas." (D. T. Lakadawala, op. cit.p 668)

(II) FACTORY EMPLOYMENT

It can be observed that the pattern of distribution of employment differed from that of the factories. The areas of concentration of factories were not necessarily the areas of concentration of employment and vice versa. The lack of co-relation between the distribution of factories and employment will necessitate a rather detailed study of the size of factories in various areas of Bombay which will be taken up subsequently. The broad features of the distribution of employment reveal some interesting facts. The suburbs which were not highly industrialized in 1956 as they are today, had 23 per cent of the factories providing employment to 60,825 or 14 per cent of the total factory employment in Bombay (viz. 4,29,647). It is evident from this fact that the factories in the suburbs must be comparatively small in size. The suburbs housed mainly factories engaged in the manufacture of chemicals and chemical products, small textile units, basic metal industries and miscellaneous industries. Most of these units were established either during or after the World War II. Of the industries in the suburbs, the textile units provided employment to 17,382 workers, which were followed by transport, the equipment manufacturing factories with 6,753 workers; non-metallic mineral products units employing 5,808 workers; metal products (except machi­nery) units with 4,721 workers and machinery units with 4,596 workers in 1956. The other factories in the suburbs were very small in size.

In the city island, the largest proportion of factory employment was found in the G ward where as many as 1,27,000 or 29.6 per cent of the factory workers were employed. It may be recalled that only 12.7 per cent of the factories were located in the G ward. It is thus obvious that the factories in G ward were of a larger size. This is attributable to the fact that this ward comprising Dadar, Mahim, Prabhadevi, Worli, Chinchpokli and Love Grove housed a large number of cotton textile mills which employ a large number of workers. The 111 textile units in this ward provided employment to 1,00,535 workers. The textile units were followed by those engaged in manufacture of transport equipment, which were 12 in number employing 7,872 workers. The higher proportion of employment per factory in the G ward was attributable mainly to the preponderance of cotton textile mills and transport equipment factories. It is clarified that the development of drugs and pharmaceutical factories in this ward was mainly in the years subsequent to 1956.

In regard to the magnitude and the proportion of factory employment therein, the E and F wards were also important centres of industrial activity. The E ward comprising Tardeo, Mazagaon, Tarwadi, Nagpada, Kamathipura and Byculla housed 656 or 20.4 per cent of the factories in Bombay. They provided employment to 91,548 or 21.3 per cent of the factory workers in Bombay. This ward had 115 textile factories employing 59,601 workers. It was the textile sector which immensely contributed to the importance of this ward as a centre of industry. The textile sector was followed by 13 factories of transport equipment which provided employment to 6,260 workers.

As between the E and F wards, the F ward exhibited a higher degree of industrialization in regard to factory employment, though not in regard to number of factories. The F ward comprising Parel, Sewri, Naigaum, Matunga and Sion had 326 or 10.1 per cent of the total number of factories which provided employment to 1,00,994 or 23.4 per cent of total factory workers. Besides being a highly industrialized ward, the average size of factories in these localities was higher than that in E ward, and almost equal to that in G ward. The average employment per factory in F and G wards was to the extent of 311. The higher percentage of employment in F and G wards was mainly due to the preponderance of cotton textile mills in these areas. The F ward contained 46 textile units which provided employment to 61,535 workers. It is obvious that the textile units were large sized ones. They were followed by factories manufacturing transport equipment which, though six in number, employed 12,358 workers.

The highest concentration of industries was in E, F and G wards which accounted for nearly 75 per cent of the total factory employment, though they had only 43 per cent of the total number of factories. These areas provided a congenial home to 1,380 factories providing employment to 3,19,831 workers. Thus, 3,19,831 workers of the total factory workers in Greater Bombay (4,29,647), were in the industries in these three wards.

A, B, C and D wards were comparatively unimportant adding only 11.5 per cent of the total. Among these four wards D ward was slightly important as it accounted for only 5 per cent of the total factory employ­ment, although 15 per cent of the factories were located in that area. Almost all the industries were fairly well represented in D ward. There I was, thus, a lack of correspondence between the proportion of factories and employment. This was still more striking in case of C ward, where 7.2 per cent of the factories accounted for the insignificant proportion of total employment amounting to only 1.1 per cent.

It is noteworthy that the overall pattern of distribution of factory employment was affected by the location of the textile mills which accounted for 58 per cent of the total employment. A remarkable feature of the study of location of industries in Bombay is the heavy concentration of textile employment in E, F and G wards which accounted for nearly 90 per cent of the textile employment in 1956. G ward alone accounted for 40 per cent of the textile employment. It was mainly a textile area as nearly 80 per cent of the factory workers employed therein were working in textile factories. Industries other than textiles showed a much less concentration, although even therein E, F and G wards accounted for slightly-more than 50 per cent of the employment. The suburbs had nearly 25 per cent of the employment in non-textile industries.

In E, F and G wards a majority of the workers were employed in textile industries, while in the other areas of the city a majority of the workers were employed in non-textile industries. The share of textile employment in A, B and C wards was insignificant. It may therefore be concluded, "that the disproportion between the distribution of factories and factory employment as between various areas which we noted earlier must be the consequence of distribution of textile industries which are essentially large-scale in nature "(D. T. Lakadawala, op; cit, p. 668)

(III) AVERAGE SIZE OF FACTORIES

Judged from the criterion of employment, an average factory in the city island having 148 workers was much larger in size than its counterpart in the suburbs employing 82 workers. The average factory in Greater Bombay employed 133 persons in 1956. The difference in regard to textile factories was particularly striking whereas the city factory was nearly six times in size in comparison to the textile factory in suburbs. This can be explained by the fact that most of the oldest cotton mills which had a scope for gradual expansion were concentrated in the city. In contrast to textile factories the size of metal and engineering, food and other factories was larger in the suburbs.

In the city area, an average factory in F and G wards employed the largest number of workers, namely 310 and 312, respectively. The smallest averages of 20, 41 and 47 were found in C, B and D wards, respectively. It is also interesting to note that the highest averages in almost all indus­tries except printing and publishing were found in F and G wards. It can therefore be deduced that larger sized factories found a more convenient location in these areas, possibly due to availability of cheaper and ampler space, particularly in the initial stages of development of industries in Bombay.

In 1941; the industrial structure of Salsette was comprised of the following industries:—-

Bandra .. Cigarette factory, Dyeing works, Chemical works and Tanneries.
Andheri                 ..      Stone quarrying, Biscuit and Peppermint factory, Button factory, Soap factory,                                                          Tobacco factory, Canvas shoe factory, Match factory and manufacture of moulded ware.
Chakala                 ..     Stone quarrying and Fire works.
Malad                   Manufacture of rubber toys,
Kandivli              ..              Manufacture of umbrella handles.
Kanheri                 ..              Hosiery works.
Bhayandar            ..              Salt manufacturer
kurla     ..              Spinning  and  Weaving  mills,  Match  factory  and manufacture of carpets.
Ghatkopar             ..              Canvas belt factory, Photo litho art press and Camphor factory.
Hariyali                 ..              Machinery repairing works, Paper and board mills and Metal works.
Mulund                  ..    Photo litho  and metal printing works, Grinding and machinery works and Cement works.
Kopri      ..                   Stone quarrying.
Naupada                 ..              Match factory.

In the course of less than two decades following 1941, both the number and variety of industries in Salsette had grown remarkably. According to the records of the Chief Inspector of Factories, there were in all 926 factories in Salsette in June, 1958. Of these 28 factories had been closed down and 187 did not respond. The total number of responding factories for which employment data are available, therefore, worked out to 711. These 711 factories employed, on an average, 65,000 workers daily.

The rapid increase in the number and variety of industries can be ascribed to the effects of the Second World War. In spite of the large area of Salsette, its industries scarcely amounted to three-tenth of that of the City, while the industrial workers formed a still smaller proportion.

As regards the relative importance of the different industries, the highest percentage of industries and industrial workers, viz. 20.7 per cent and 26.2 per cent respectively, belonged to the textile group. Next in order of descending importance ranked non-metallic mineral products (except products of petroleum and coal), transport equipment, chemicals and chemical products, metal products (except machinery and transport equipment), basic metal industries, machinery (except electrical machinery), products of petroleum and coal, food except beverages, electrical machinery, apparatus, appliances and supplies, rubber and rubber products, which together accounted for 58 per cent of the industries as well as of industrial workers.

The two industries, viz. processes allied to agriculture and tobacco were absent in Salsette. Factories of beverages, furniture and fixtures, leather and leather products (except footwear), water and sanitary services and personal services were a few in number. They were hardly one per cent of the total industries and industrial workers.

Thus the most important industries of the Salsette were textiles, chemicals, rubber, minerals, metals, machinery and transport equipment. These industries are usually classified as heavy industries, as they are noisy, noxious and as a rule require large ground space. Since these heavy industries accounted for as much as 80 per cent of the total industrial establishments and five per cent more of the industrial workers, the general complexion of Salsette’s industrial structure could be said to be predominantly heavy.

TABLE No. 2
NUMBER OF INDUSTRIES AND WORKERS IN SALSETTE, 1958

Classification	No. of factories	No. of employees	Average size of a factory.
Processes allied to agriculture	..	..	..
Food (except beverages)	41	2,170	53
Beverages	2	58	29
Tobacco	..	..	..
Textiles	147	16,906	115
Footwear,  wearing  apparel and  made-up textile goods	4	106	26
Wood and cork (except furniture)	13	736	56
Furniture and fixtures	2	49	24
Paper and paper products	6	608	101
Printing, publishing and allied industries	9	280	31
Leather and leather products (except footwear)	2	61	30
Rubber and rubber products	31	1,439	46
Chemicals and chemical products	79	4,989	63
Products of petroleum and coal..	9	2,418	268
Non-metallic   mineral  products  (except products of petroleum and coal)	99	7,975	81
Basic metal industries	31	3,651	118
Metal  products  (except  machinery  and transport equipment)	32	4,054	127
Machinery (except electrical machinery)	33	3,309	100
Electrical machinery, apparatus, appliances and supplies.	20	1,887	94
Transport and transport equipment)	20	6,083	304
Miscellaneous industries	25	1,488	59
Electricity, gas and steam	3	145	48
Water and sanitary services	1	26	26
Recreation services (cinema studios)	14	1,334	95
Personal services  (laundries,  dyeing  and cleaning).	1	30	30
Unclassified	87	5,176	59
Total	711	64,978	91

Source.-Office of the Chief Inspector of Factories, Bombay.

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PICTURE OF INDUSTRIAL GROWTH

As stated earlier Bombay is the industrial and commercial metropolis of India. It occupies a unique place in the industrial economy of India as diverse industries have grown and expanded here. The genesis of many industries in India is traceable in this city. A major sector of industries in Maharashtra is concentrated the metropolis, while the growth in the peripheral areas and in Pune belt is mainly an expansion of the growth pole in, Bombay, It is therefore very interesting to study the growth of industrialisation in this city. The Annual Survey of Industries conducted by the Government of India whph is the most authoritative source of data enables us to analyse the important characteristics of industries. As per these statistics there are about 6,048 factories registered under the Factories Act which provide employment to 6,21,495 persons in Greater Bombay. The total value of their output is as high as Rs. 43,49,58.02 lakhs, the value added on manufacture beingn Rs.9,42,11.69 lakhs. The important characteristics of industries in Greater Bombay district as per the Annual Survey of Industries, 1973-74 and 1975-77 are given below.(The statistics are supplied the Directorate of Economies and Statistics, Government of Maharashtra) The figures reveal the annual averages in the respective survey periods.

TABLE No. 3
IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS OF INDUSTRIES (ESTIMATED) IN
GREATER BOMBAY AS PER THE ANNUAL SURVEY OF
INDUSTRIES, 1973-74 AND 1975-77

(Figures of Rs. in lakhs)

Item	1973-74	1975-77
1. No. of estimated factories	5,874	6,048
2. Fixed capital (Rs.)	11,32,43.89	8,24,35.32
3. Working capital (Rs.)	6,89,58.14	6,84,82.80
4. Capital investment (Rs.)	20,51,28.74	18,80,89.37
5. Outstanding loans (Rs.)	N.A.	9,86,40.96
6. Man-days worked (No.)	N-A.	19,00,58,453
7. All workers (No.)	5,53,418	4,80,970
8. All employees (No.)	6,74,797	6,21,495
9. Wages to workers (Rs.)	2,61,60.19	3,10,36.43
10. Total emoluments (Rs.)	405,41.29	5,15,14.43
11. Fuel consumed (Rs.)	N;A.	1,85,52.71
12. Material consumed (Rs.)	N.A.	25,77,44.33
13. Other inputs (Rs.)	N.A.	5,61,85.49
14. Total inputs (Rs.)	22,81,19.97	33,24,82.53
15. Plant & Machinery (Rs)	N.A.	13,02,44.83
16. Value of products (Rs.)	N.A.	37,29,14.83
17. Other output (Rs.)	N.A.	6,20,43.19
18. Total output (Rs.)	32,00,09.79	43,49,58.02
19. Depreciation (Rs.)	N-A.	82,63.80
20. Value added (Rs.)	8,29,77.42	9,42,11.69
21. Factory payment (Rs.)	N.A.	1,50,57.19
22. Net Income (Rs.)	NA.	7,91,54.50

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COTTON TEXTILE INDUSTRY

The cotton textile industry is the prime industry of Bombay which has contributed immensely to the economic prosperity and social advancement of this metropolitan city of India. The enormous expansion of Bombay's industry and trade and her prosperity have mainly been dependent upon the spinning and weaving factories and on their impact on the economic welfare of her inhabitants. The history of the textile industry of Bombay is, in fact, the history of economic growth of Western India, and her prosperity.

The mill industry in Bombay ever since its inception about 130 years ago has remained the foremost indigenous industry of India. It provides employment to about two and a half lakhs of persons in the city, at present. Bombay alone employs a little less than half of the industrial workers employed in the cotton mill industry of India. Besides its potentialities as regards employment, it encouraged the growth of many ancillary industries, such as textile machinery manufacture, engineering workshops, packaging units, manufacture of dye-stuffs and chemicals and many others. Its role in the development of this city is more or less of a pioneering one, which has accelerated the growth of many other industries It also provides an impetus to the establishment of many commercial concerns, managing agents and financial institutions. The Bombay Stock Exchange was once highly dominated by this industry. According to one estimate, the cotton textile industry, accounts for nearly 20 per cent of the value of industrial production in Bombay.

The factors contributing to the localisation of the cotton textile industry in Bombay are economic, geographic, as also social. Bombay, a fine natural harbour oh the western sea-board, afforded excellent marine transport facilities to other ports in India and those in African, Asian and European countries. The important factor which helped the initial concen­tration of the industry in Bombay was that the city enjoyed excellent transport relations both in regard to raw materials kind consumers markets." Owing to its insular position it enjoyed the advantages of cheap sea-freights on import of machinerymill stores and other accessories. Besides, being the important junction of trunk railways. Bombay Was connected well with the interior markets of raw cotton and piece goods; The policy of the; railways to charge lower rates of freight from and/to the ports increased the transport advantages of Bombay over, other inland towns, In the early days of the cotton mill industry the to yarn with China offered additional incentive for concentration of the industry in the city.

The growth of the industry in Bombay also owes immensely to a pioneer­ing class of men with amazing commercial carrier, vast financial resources and considerable experience of business management and organisation. Men like Cowasji Davar, Maneckji Petit, Din shaw Petit, Jamshetji Tata, Khatau Makanji, Morarjee Goculdas and a galaxy of wealthy Parsis and Bhatias ventured on mill building with conspicuous success. (Most of the promoters of the industry did not have higher University education. But they had an enterprising career and most of them took part in public affairs and municipal government.) A number of indigenous bankers and banking institutions have played an important role in the growth of the industry. The infrastructure which was so very abundant in Bombay was not easily available at other centres. Technical and professional services too were easily available, as also plentiful supply of cheap and skilled labour from neighbouring districts of Konkan, Satara and Sholapur. The humid climate of Bombay offered yet another advantage as in spinning and weaving processes the fibre becomes more tenacious due to moisture. The availability of raw cotton from the hinter­land in Maharashtra and Gujarat also helped growth of the industry. A fortutious combination of all these factors led to the phenomenal development of the industry in Bombay till the twenties of this century.

A study of the locational trends in the industry in India reveals the relative decline in the predominant position of Bombay and the relative spreading out of industrial activity in more and more interior regions. The reasons for the dispersal of the cotton textile industry are as under. The initial dispersal of the industry was mainly due to the development of means of transport in the interior regions. It was only after a network of railways that many new centres sprang up. Some of the new centres were also more favourably located in regard to raw materials and consu­mers' markets, than the original centre like Bombay. The cotton mills, therefore sprang up in many new centres. Another contributory factor was the shift of the industry from high to low labour costs. The develop­ment of hydro-electric resources in the country particularly Tamil Nadu, Kamatak and Punjab has given considerable impetus to cotton manu­facturing in those areas. The high cost of labour at Bombay is a discoura­ging factor for future expansion of the industry. Since 1925, certain tendencies are operating which show that the industry is gradually shifting from old centres like Bombay to centres of low wage rates. The other deglomerating tendencies began as a result of, (i) increase in land values and rents, (ii) rise in cost of living, (iii) increase in internal cost of transport, and (iv) increase in taxes and water rates. In Bombay the number of mills declined from 82 in 1925 to 65 in 1958. (Mr. M. Mehta, Structure of Indian Industries.) The operation of deglomerating tendencies has, by increasing the cost of production, considerably weakened the competitive position of Bombay. The industry has tended to move to more favourable locations.

The history of the organised cotton textile industry in Bombay is traceable to the year 1851 wherein Mr. Cowasji Nanabhai Davar, an enterprising Parsi, projected a cotton spinning factory. The Bombay Spinning and Weaving Mill, as it was called, was erected at Tardeo, now in the heart of the city and was inaugurated on February 22nd, 1854. (Another date of the inauguration of the Mill is given as February 7,1856.) The enterprise proved a great success and Mr. Davar felt encouraged to establish another mill in proximity to the first one. The second venture, known as the Bombay Throstle Mill, was undertaken in 1857, (It went into production in 1859.) and was later renamed as Alliance Mill in 1864. The success of this under­taking induced Mr. Maneckji N. Petit to erect the Oriental Mill in 1858 with 30,000 spindles. The third venture was so prosperous that it was converted into a joint-stock company and considerably expanded with new machinery including 50,000 spindles and 1,000 looms. It was in 1860 that the foundations of the managing agency system in cotton textile industry in Bombay were laid. The Oriental Mill was the first enterprise to introduce the managing agency system.

Another stalwart in Bombay's business was Sir Dinshaw Maneckji Petit who floated the Maneckji Petit mill in 1860 with 60,000 spindles and 1,000 looms. This venture also yielded handsome returns which induced further industrial enterprise not only among the Parsi community but also among the wealthy Bhatias who undertook mill establishment with good success. The next years witnessed the projection of nearly a dozen mills, and the industry spreaded to other parts of Bombay Presidency. Sir Dinshaw Petit himself started another mill viz., the Victoria Mill in 1860, which was a spinning mill. The other mills started during this period were as under:—

Royal Mill (1860), Coorla Mill (1860), Bombay United (1860), Great Eastern (1860), Arkwright (1863), Albert (Parel) (1867), Alexandra (1869) and Morarjee (1870). The thirteen mills mentioned in above paras employed about 8,100 workers and had 2,91,000 spindles and 4,100 looms.

The enterprise of the Bombay men of amazing commercial career initiated enormous growth in the industry and trade of not only the Presidency but also of the country. For this India is highly indebted to the early pioneers of the industry. (A few of them may be mentioned as : Davar, Maneckji Petit, Dinshaw Petit, Nusserwanji Petit, Bomanji Wadia, Dharamsey Punjabhoy, Merwanji Pandey, Jamshetji Tata, Tapidas Varajdas, Keshawji Naik, Khatau Makanji, Mangaldas Nathubhai, James Greaves, George Cotton, Morarjee Goculdas, Muncherji Banaji, Moolji Jetha, Thackersey Moolji and many others.) The demand for the Bombay cloth and yarn was increasing mainly because of its cheapness as compared to the Lancashire industry. The cheapness of the products was attributable to lower wages, cheap raw cotton from the hinterland, abundance of coal and plenty of capital with the Bombay businessmen.

The progress of the mill industry in Bombay was temporarily arrested in 1861 which condition continued for nearly ten years. This was mainly on account of the American Civil War which broke out in April 1861, and due to the abnormal demand for Indian cotton and the fabulous prices it fetched in England. The civil war interrupted supply of raw cotton to England from America which resulted into unprecedented spurt in cotton trade in Bombay. The traders in the city invested all their capital in cotton exports. The value of cotton exports increased from 5.25 millions in 1860 to 80 millions in 1865. The American Civil War and its aftermath convulsed the commercial life of Bombay with an unprecedented intensity. The super abundance of wealth due to, what was termed the Share Mania stimulated wilder enterprises in other directions, such as, backing, financial associations, shipping, land and building business, etc. The Back Bay Reclamation Project beat every other venture.

The end of the civil war in 1865 however initiated the most widespread economic ruin and general disaster in the history of the city. It was a period of near stagnation for cotton mills. The prices of cotton fell with an appalling rapidity, and securities dropped heavily. It was only by the end of 1870 that normal conditions returned, and the textile industry experienced conditions of revival. Large concerns like the; Alexandra and the Morarjee Goculdas Mills were started about this period. They were followed by 15 mills during the next five years. (The history of cotton mills upto 1927 is based on Bombay Industries: Cotton Mills, 1927 by Mr. S. M. Rutnagur)

It was also this time that Jamshetji Tata emerged as an enterprising progressive industrialist who had a tremendous influence on the growth of the mill industry and the economical working of factories. He started the Alexandra Mill in 1869 and later the Central India Spinning and Weaving Company. The Alexandra Mill soon became one of. the most efficient units in Western India, and was sold at a large profit.

Mr. Tata was the first Indian industrialist to introduce a system of fair deal to labour in this industry. He was the first to introduce bonus and provident fund for his employees, besides other labour welfare measures. In course of time, he set up more mills in Western India. To set aside chronology for the time being, he started the Swadeshi Mill in Bombay in 1886 for production of finer varieties of textile with long staple cotton. The Tatas established another famous mill, viz., the Tata Mills, in 1915 after Jamshetji Tata's death.

Morarjee Goculdas established a cotton mill after his name in 1870. This was followed by many mills. Thackersey Moolji floated the Hindoostan Spinning and Weaving Mill Company in 1873 with an authorised capital of Rs. 12,00,000. The Sassoon Spinning and Weaving Mill was started in 1874 by David Sassoon and Company. The Khatau Makanji spinning and Weaving Mill, another well-known unit in Bombay was established in 1875. It is no small tribute to the sagacity and, fore­sight of the founders of these enterprise that some of the houses like the Thackerseys and the Khataus have not only completed one hunted years of their productive existence but have also remained under the same management. The Morarjee Mill and the Coorla Mills also cele­brated their birth centenaries, although their management has changed hands since incorporation.

In those days, initiative, desire and integrity marked the development of textile industry in Bombay. The mill-owners made profits but did so by fair means and hard work.

The progress of the industry in Bombay during the first twenty years of its existence (upto December 1875), was as under:—

Period	No. of . mills	Spindles	Looms	Employment	Paid up Capital
1855-4870 1870-1875	13 15	2,91,000 4,61,600	4,100 3,680	8,100 5,450	NA 3,38,58,000
Total in 1875	28	7,52,600	7,780	13,550	3,38,58,000

PROGRESS BETWEEN 1875 AND 1885

The progress of the industry in this period was particularly rapid, there being 21 new mills by the end of 1885, The third group of new mills comprised the spinning factories Started by Greaves, Cotton and Co., which were the first in Bombay to be managed on the basis of a commission on profits for the Agents. They were quite profitable for the investors. Binshaw Maieckji Petit's firm made further additions to their mills in this period, while Thackersey Moolji and Co. started two new factories which elevated them to the status of the largest millowners in the Hindu Community.

In all 23 new mills were projected between 1875 and 1885, while two were closed. The city thus possessed a total of 49 mills in 1885 as under:--

	Mills	Spindles	Looms	Employment	Paid-up capital
In 1875 1875-85	28 21	7,52,600 5,94,800	7,780 4,230	13,550 28,000	3,38,58,000 1,41,04,060
Total in 1885	49	13,47,400	12,010	41,550	4,79,62,000

PROGRESS FROM 1885 TO 1895 : THE ADVENT OF RING SPINNING

The Bombay mills used to do spinning on the mule or fly throstle hitherto. However, introduction of the Ring spinning frame in this period was a revolutionary measure in the industry in respect of economy of costs. The Greaves, Cotton and Co., which took initiative in this respect was followed by many new mills which adopted this system, while some of the older mills also replaced the mules or throstles. These included the Empress, New Empress, Connaught, Howard and Bullough, Imperial, James Greaves, and Leopold with a total of 283,000 ring spindles which brought handsome returns.

It was during this period that the Revolving Flat Card was being perfected to supersede the Roller Card. Many other innovations introduced in Lancashire encouraged Bombay millowners to renew their plants, while new mills were projected under fresh enterprise. Consequently, the third period in the history of mills in Bombay 1885-95, brought in further addition of 21 mills, making 70 in all with an aggregate of 2,124,000 spindles, 20,220 looms and 75,750 workers. These new mills included those floated by Currimbhoy Ebrahim and Sons, Sassoon J. David and Co. and E. D. Sassoon and Co., which worked with marked success.

SLOW PROGRESS BETWEEN 1895 AND 1905

The progress of the industry was retarded by acute financial depression, as also by plague and famine. The companies which were not managed economically and efficiently either went into liquidation or changed the Agents. The bubonic plague of 1896-98 frightened the workers who migrated to their native place to escape the havoc of the epidemic. The famine which ensued added to the adverse conditions. The industry however showed conditions of revival in 1903. This period of ten years was marked by the establishment of some mills which have lived up to their reputation to the present day which include Gold Mohur (1896), Globe (1896), Kohinoor (1896) and Century (1898). Though 16 new mills including the ones mentioned above were started, four old mills were closed during this period, leaving a total of 82 mills in Bombay in 1905. The industry could not escape the ravages of the international depression in textile industry from 1900 to 1905.

JAPANESE COMPETITION : 1905-1915

The unpalatable memories of the plague and depression in the industry deferred the entrepreneurs from venturing in cotton mill building between 1905 and 1915. Japan, which had undertaken establishment of mills from 1900, began competing with Indian yarn in Chinese markets. This had an adverse impact on the Bombay textile industry. Investment was channelised for improvement of existing machinery rather than for establishment of new mills. Though eight new mills were started in this period, four old ones were closed, leaving 86 mills in existence in 1915. The honourable additions to the mills in this period were as under : Finlay (1906), Spring (1908), Pearl (1913), Simplex (1915) and Tata (1915).

BETWEEN 1915 AND 1925

The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 and the stoppage of imports of machinery from Lancashire to India prevented establishment of new mills in Bombay for many years. The conditions for establishment of new mills remained adverse even after cessation of hostilities in 1918. The cost of land and construction was exhorbitant. There was also a demand recession after 1918. While Bombay was exporting yarn to China on a very large scale upto 1914, the exports fell rapidly on account of Japanese competition. Surprisingly enough, Japanese yarn and piece-goods were imported in Bombay.

As per the Administration Report of the Bombay Presidency for 1923-24, " Since 1917, China has been practically a closed market for Indian piece-goods owing mainly to the expansion of the indigenous textile industry and to the rigour of Japanese competition."

The Premier mills projected by Cuirimbhoy and Sons in 1921 were the only addition to Bombay mills in this period. Five of the old mills were closed during this period. At the same time large extensions to existing plants were made which accounted for the heavy increase in the number of spindles and looms. The considerable rise in the paid-up capital in this period was due to conversion of private concerns into joint-stock companies and to the transfer of existing factories at enhanced capital cost during the boom period   of 1920-22.

POSITION IN 1925

During the span of 70 years from 1855, 97 cotton mills were started in Bombay city. But many of them were destroyed by fire and closed, while in others the machinery was sold, leaving a total of 82 spinning and weaving mills in Bombay city including Coorla mill.

The summary of the progress during period of ten years is given below :—
It is noteworthy that there was an enormous increase in machinery in the mills after 1905. Large extensions were made in existing factories during 1915-25. There was a huge rise in spindles and weaving machinery. Competition from Japan and other trade conditions compelled Bombay millowners to search new markets and spin higher counts and weave a greater variety of cloth. Quality of the cloth was improved by bleaching, finishing and dyeing.

The old mills which faced a disadvantage due to paucity of weaving and other machinery were also renovated with looms, finishing plants and modern improvements and processes. The Bombay cotton mills, in 1925, were in no way inferior to the Lancashire textile factories in their general equipment and manufacturing resources. (S. M. Rutnagur, op. cit)

As a matter of fact 97 mills had been established up to 1925, though there were only 8 surviving units. This was because many of them had been destroyed by fire or closed and dismantled. Excepting a few, the pioneering units turned out to be successful. However, the plague of 1896-98 and the famine which ensued depressed the industry miserably. The concerns not managed with efficiency and economy were the worst hit. The industry lost the Chinese markets on account of keen competition from Japan, which affected profits. The situation was aggravated by mismanagement and even corruption. The protests from shareholders and financial difficulties of the Agents compelled the closure or reconstruction of many undertakings. The loss of the Chinese market however brought about a material change in the character of the textile industry, which was hitherto a predominantly coarse yarn spinning industry. More looms were installed to turn out the excess yarn into cloth.

A mention must be made of the activities of the Bombay Millowners' Association, founded in 1875. It was actively concerned with the interests of the textile industry. The British Government recognising its importance and influence had allotted some seats to it in the Legislative Assembly, the Legislative Council and other corporate bodies in Bombay. It took an active part in the legislative and other measures connected with the working of the cotton mills.

The Bombay mills had to face prolonged strike from September 15, 1925 to December 1, 1925. Every mill was affected, a huge labour force of nearly 1.5 lakh striking work.

The Bombay Millowners' Association experienced very anxious periods during the trade depression of 1924-25. It directed itself to intensive efforts for the removal of the cotton excise duty which was repealed after 18 months of agitation. The industry was faced with competition of Japan, and the Association did a great deal of work by pleading its case for protection. The consequent gain for the industry was the appointment of the Textile Tariff Board by the Government of India in July 1926.

The Association pointed out to the Board the handicaps of the industry on account of exchange rates and employment of female labour in Japanese mills. The Indian industry, as advocated by the Association, required additional protection equivalent to 13 per cent and further additional protection to enable the Bombay mills to make the necessary allowances for depreciation to plant and machinery. The efforts of the Association bore some fruits though the basic problems were not solved by the Tariff Board.

It is very pertinent to mention a few characteristics of the Japanese competition in the third decade of this century. The Japanese selected particular types of goods which were manufactured in Bombay, and lowered their prices. The exchange rates of rupee vis-a-vis China and Japan put the Indian exports at a great disadvantage in 1924-25 gradually depreciating Japanese exchange coupled with the appreciation of the rupee exchange enabled the Japanese to compete with the Bombay mills successfully. The economical cost of production of Japanese cloth was also detrimental to the Bombay industry.

The Great Depression of 1929-30 which had a devastating impact on the industry and trade in almost all western countries and the British Empire however did not have had an adverse effect on the cotton textile industry of Bombay. Though one mill was closed in 1929, there was no appreciable fall in regard to number of spindles installed. In fact there was rise in the dumber of looms and quantum of raw cotton consumed by the mills in 1929, 1930 and 1931 over that in 1928. The industry appears to have enjoyed better conditions in 1927. But the depression did not appear to have slumped cotton mills even in comparison to 1930. The year 1934 appears to be adverse in the history of the industry in regard to fall in number of spindles, looms and consumption of cotton. The Bombay mills had made a loss of about Rs. 237 lakhs in 1930 due to competition by Japanese goods. The Bombay Millowners' Association suggested, in July 1932, an immediate increase in both the specific and ad valorem duty on grey cotton goods imported from Japan, and an ad valorem duty on all other classes of Japanese cotton goods as measures for according protection to the industry. The Government of India accepted these suggestions in 1933.
The industry in Bombay showed a declining trend in 1939 in regard to the number of mills in operation, which declined to 68 in that year, to 65 in 1940 and 64 in 1941. Some of the mills preferred to switch over to other productive avenues and closed while others were destroyed by fire. This was however not a real decline in the growth of the industry. Except for some aberrations in 1940, the cotton textile industry experienced buoyancy throughout the period of the Great World War of 1939-45. There was an unprecedented demand for cloth in the Indian market as imports had virtually been restricted to meet the needs of the war effort. Huge orders were placed by the Government to clothe the armed forces of the Indian Army. The industry geared itself to help the British Govern­ment and to reap the harvest of profits. Consumption of raw cotton increased immensely, though imports of long staple cotton virtually ceased, due to the war. The consumption of cotton by mills in Bombay increased from 8.13 lakh bales (of 392 lbs.) in 1940 to 11.48 lakh bales in 1941; 13.10 lakh bales in 1942; 14.84 lakh bales in 1943; 14.52 lakh bales in 1944 and to 14.93 lakh bales in 1945. The installed capacity of the mills was fully utilised. The cessation of hostilities in 1945 however retarded the growth of the industry and there was a sharp decline. With the recession in demand production was curtailed and installed capacity was under-utilised. The inherent structural drawbacks of the cotton textile industry in Bombay were exposed immediately after the war. It was mainly a labour intensive industry. There was hardly any research and development project. The machinery was out-dated, while replacement was virtually impossible during the buoyancy in the war period. Due to lack of replacement, they showed signs of ageing, over-utilised as it was during the listlessness of the war demand.

The ailments of the old cotton mills of Bombay were conspicuously experienced after the war. This trail of events reached its culmination in 1951, resulting in a heavy decline in production and employment. The partition of India in 1947 was another great blow to the industry, as indeed it was to the Indian economy as a whole. From times immemorial, India had enjoyed the advantage of self-sufficiency in cotton, except a small quantity of long staple varieties. With partition of India, the supply of raw cotton of good quality was adversely affected.

While it was clear that the relatively weak and marginal units required an accelerated pace of modernisation, the financial constraints made it impossible for them to undertake the desired modernisation. (Final Report of the Task Force on Textile Industries, Planning Commission of India, 1972.) Besides, financial constraints, the modernisation and replacement programme was handicapped by shortage of textile machinery from domestic sources. "While the availability of finances with the mills and with the lending institutions represents one of the limiting factors affecting the size of a practicable modernisation programme for the industry, the other constraint of machinery supply is perhaps even more important." (Ibid.)

The inevitable result was that a number of old cotton mills which were not managed efficiently with due care for rationalisation and replacement of machinery fell 'sick' after Independence. The ailment of obsolete and relatively inefficient machinery made them ' sick'.

In the period 1955 to 1959 and again 1964 to 1971, the cotton textile industry passed through a difficult phase on account of the shortage of raw material, power and some recession in demand. The lower capacity utilisation on account of inadequate supply of cotton and difficult working capital position, coupled with low machine productivity resulted in the closure of a large number of mills. (Ibid.)

In view of the large scale unemployment and decline in production, Government was obliged to take over the management of mills which were closed or were facing imminent closure under the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act, 1951. The incidence of sicknessand closure was more after 1964-65. This made it imperative on the part of the Government of India to establish the National Textile Corporation in 1968 to undertake management of the ailing factories. The first task of the management in the public sector was to undertake a thorough measure of renovation and replacement of obsolete machinery and nationalisation of production. The following mills in Bombay were nationalised under the Sick Textile Undertakings (Nationalisation) Act, 1974. The amount of compensation payable in respect of them is mentioned against them :—

     Mills                                                                                        Amount Rs.

1. Digvijay Spg. and Wvg. Mills                                               ..     75,65,000
 2. Edward Mill                                                                           ..    65,28,000
 3. India United Mills (six units and one dye work)    ..                     12,40,000
4. New Kaiser Hind Mill                                                          ..          48,70,000

5.Seksaria Cotton Mill                                                 ..               49,67,000

“Most of the sick mills have an excessive labour force which has contributed to higher labour cost per unit of output of yarn and cloth. The question of retrenchment of surplus labour is evidently a difficult one in view of the scarcity of employment opportunities in the economy." (Report of the Task Force on Textile Industries)

The textile mills remained by far the biggest employer of labour in manufacturing, accounting for half of all working force in manufacturing in 1961. Its pre-eminence was more conspicuous in earlier times. " During the sixties, the relative decline of cotton mill employment turned into an absolute decline. There was stagnation in output as well as replacement of men (and especially women) by machinery." (Heather Joshi and Vijay Joshi, Surplus Labour and the City, p. 63)

The statistics given below for changes in the average levels of outputs and inputs of the Bombay cotton mills between 1958-60 and 1968-70 indicate that the ratios of capital and material inputs in relation to labour have increased. (Bombay Millowners' Association, Annual Report, 1971)

Cotton Mills in Bombay : Index of Inputs and Output, 1968-70
(1958-1960 = 100)

Average Daily working Spindles	Looms	Cotton Consumption. (Bales)	Daily Employment	Yarn (tons)	Cloth (metres)
108	95	96	89	93	84

The quality of output of cloth improved between 1961 and 1970. This is evident from following figures of qualities of cloth produced by Bombay cotton mills:—

Quality	1961	1970	1961	1970
	(Thousand metres)		(Percentage of Total)
All	1,371	1,120	100	100
Coarse	241	136	18	12
Medium	990	674	72	60
Fine and superfine	140	311	10	28

The latter phenomenon, known as rationalisation', is probably in part a case of pure factor substitution in response to higher wage costs, but probably it also reflects changes in technique in response to changing product-mix and also technical advancement. Improved techniques tend to involve increase in capital intensity and so do new types of cloth, synthetics and blended fabrics, as well as better quality cotton textiles.

While the cotton industry of the country as a whole was loosing ground on the world market, the decline in textile employment was "more pronounced in Bombay than in the rest of the country. This was pre­sumably because of the greater weight of high quality cloth in the output of Bombay cotton mills and because of the high level of wages in Bombay in relation to other parts of the country." (Heather Joshi and Vijay Joshi, op. cit) The growth of employment was much faster in a newer industry like chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Other branches of manufacturing expanded employment at a rate comparable with other sectors of production. "It should be pointed out that the skill-intensity of expanding industries such as petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and electronics is probably significantly higher than that of the older, stagnating textile sector." (Ibid)

A significant feature of the cotton mill industry of Bombay has been the fall in the employment of women from about 11,000 in 1961 to 6,500 in 1971 which means a decline by about 41 per cent. The women employed in the mills were mainly unskilled and illiterate reelers and winders, which jobs were becoming increasingly automatic. Women's jobs are not only confined to a few occupations, but they also find it difficult to compete with men. (Ibid)

TREND IN SIZE OF COTTON MILLS IN BOMBAY

A study in the recent trends in the size of industrial units in the cotton mill industry of Bombay over the period 1905 to 1959 by Dr. M. M. Mehta reveals many interesting features. According to this study there was a preponderance of smaller units and a comparative absence of bigger spinning units in the earlier period. In 1905, 54 out of 73 units had less than 40,000 spindles. Thereafter there was a fall in the number of these smaller units having less than 40,000 spindles. Many of them were either scrapped, dismantled or absorbed by bigger units. The period of decadence of smaller units coincided with the period of Great Depres­sion. "There has been a relative spreading out of units into somewhat larger dimensions." The average size of spinning section increased from 32,000 spindles in 1905 to 58,000 in 1959.

There is a tendency on the part of the units to grow out of their humble beginnings and to expand as the financial resources permit. The periods of rapid expansion generally coincided with periods of great industrial activity, and vice versa. The large expansion in the size of units from 1951 to 1959 is partly accounted for by the various development programmes under the five year plans, and partly by large concessions, protective duties, ban on imports, increase in demand and an assured home market.

In regard to the weaving section of the cotton mill industry of Bombay during 1905-59 period Dr. Mehta's study reveals that there was prepon­derance of the smaller units and a comparative absence of bigger units in earlier years. In subsequent years the smaller units saw extinction while the bigger ones expanded. During the early period, it was the expansion of spinning that brought about expansion of weaving. In subsequent period, the expansion of weaving section of textile industry brought about an expansion of the spinning section. The tempo of expansion is higher in the case of weaving than in the case of spinning. This is because of firstly, the changing character of the Bombay cotton industry from a predominantly spinning to combined spinning and weaving type, and secondly, the changes in the character of output and diversification of production, which required a higher proportion of loomage to spindleage.

Dr. Mehta's study of the trends in size of combined spinning-weaving factories during the period 1906-59 suggests that "a tendency is operating, though indistinctly, in the earlier period and more marked in the later years, for spindles and looms to combine within a certain range of ratios. The ratio of 40 spindles to one loom is becoming more and more pronounced though it will, in individual cases, vary according to the degree of specialization and the character of output. Production of finer varieties will involve a higher proportion of spindleage to loomage than production of inferior varieties."

"The movement towards specialization, has not made any appreciable progress during the last fifty years. Most of the units still operate on quite a wide range of counts and weave many varieties of cloth to meet the diverse requirements of the Indian market. The average ratio between spindleage and loomage in each individual unit, therefore, exhibits narrow range of variation. This feature one would hardly observe in case of Lancashire industry where each individual unit specializes in the production of particular counts of yarn and particular varieties of cloth." (M. M. Mehta, op. cit, pp. 38-39.)

The typical mill in Bombay had 500 to 1,000 looms and 20,000 to 40,000 spmdles in 1921. By 1959, the size of the typical unit expanded considerably. In 1959, the typical spinning-weaving mill in the city had a range of 750 to 1,250 looms and 30,000 to 60,000 spindles. The expansionist tendency is thus clearly observable.

Variation in Profit Rates : It is interesting to observe the existence of the disparity in the inter-unit rates of profits. The inter-unit variations are of considerable dimensions in Bombay textile industry. The average rates of profit declared during the period 1938-57 varied from 4.72 in the case of the Colaba mill to 22.65 in the case of the Simplex mill, the majority of the mills having declared profits at the average rates varying from 5 to 20 per cent. The variations in rates of profits in some of the cotton mills in Bombay during the period 1938-55 are given below (M. M. Mehta, op. cit.):—

Mill	Average rate of profit declared, 1938-55		Mill	Average rate of profit declared, 1938-55
1. Colaba	4.72	12.	Phoenix	17.31
2. India United	6.16	13.	Bombay Dyeing	17.36
3. Elphinstone	7.38	14.	Gold Mohur	17.81
4. Edward Textiles	8.87	15.	Western India	18.17
5. Coorla	9.02	16.	Morarjee Goculdas .	18.37
6. New Great	11.37	17.	Swan	19.12
7. Apollo	11.40	18.	Indian Manufacturing	19.80
8. New City	13.10	19.	Hindoostan	20.25
9. Dawn	15.33	20.	Century	20.68
10. Finlay	15.48	21.	Kohinoor	21.69
11. Swadeshi	16.88	22.	Simplex	22.65

It is noteworthy that the Kohinoor and Century Mills were then of exceptionally large size with more than 95,000 spindles. The disadvantages arising from their locations could be more than off-set by the counter­vailing economies arising from the expansion in the scale of output, greater efficiency and management, and the degree of financial, managerial and administrative integrations. These factors important as they are contributed very substantially in sustaining the competitive power and efficiency of the Bombay industry. It therefore follows that the endurance, tenacity and competitive power of less favourably situated units depend, in the long run, on their ability to counteract some of the diseconomies arising out of less favourable locations by superior organising ability. (M. M. Mehta, op. cit.)

Besides inter-unit variations in profit rates, there were wide inter­regional variations as between Bombay and other centres of the cotton textile industry in India. A detailed study of these various centres is not intended here. It suffices to say that the mills in Bombay fared comparatively better than those in other regions.

Variation in Costs : The nature and extent of inter-regional differences in the cost structure of the cotton industry is a very important aspect which can throw a light on the propensity to shift manufacturing activity to some centres with low costs of production. The Indian Tariff Board Report on Cotton Textile Industry, 1932, (For details see the Report,) has attempted to give the percentage of the component items of manufacturing costs like labour, fuel and power, water, stores, etc. to the cost of production in some important centres of the cotton mill industry in India. The Report of the Board did not take into account the cost of raw material as also the "margin of profit". The explanation furnished by the Tariff Board in excluding the cost of raw cotton was that the prices of raw cotton varied from time to time, and that the individual mills mixed the different varieties of cotton in different proportions.

Dr. Mehta has compiled the percentage of each component item of cost like raw materials, wages, stores, power and fuel etc., to the total value of goods sold, thus taking into account both the distributive costs as also the margin of profit. The results of compilation pertaining to Bombay, Sholapur and Nagpur are given below:—

TABLE No. 4
REGIONAL VARIATION OF COSTS IN THE COTTON MILL INDUSTRY
OF MAHARASHTRA, 1948

	Bombay	Sholapur	Nagpur
Number of units examined	3	2	2
Items	%	%	%
Raw Materials	36.20	36.20	41.50
Stores	9.73	5.65	6.90
Power and Fuel	1.77	2.90	2.85
Wages and Salaries	31.50	32.15	28.65
Interest	1.33	0.10	0.55
Depreciation	1.63	1.05	1.65
Managing Agents' Allowances and Commission.	0.50	1.15	1.20
Selling Expenses	5.90	0.45	1.60
Other Expenses		5.95	4.05
Total Costs	88.56	85.60	88.95
Profit	11.44	14.40	11.05
Total Sales	100.00	100.00	100.00

Broadly speaking, it can be said that the balance of advantage in respect of the supplies of raw cotton is against Bombay. It should however be remembered that these differences are not solely due to the locational advantages or disadvantages of different centres in regard to supplies of raw cotton, but to the differences in the character and quality of output, and the proportion in which several varieties of cotton are mixed in order to produce the desired quality of output. Indeed, the data available for study would not admit of any definitive inference or conclusion. (M. M. Mehta, op. cit.)

The concluding remarks of the Indian Tariff Board are worthy of consideration. "Our examination of the cost of production in various centres shows that for the greatest disability from which Bombay suffers is its high cost of labour. It is also under substantial disadvantages in regard to cost of fuel and power, cost of water and higher local taxa­tion, but these are rather more than off-set by advantages in regard to the cost of stores, of insurance and of office expenses. So far as costs of production are concerned, it is in labour costs that is to be found the main reason why the depression in the industry has been felt so much more acutely in Bombay than it has elsewhere." (Indian Tariff Board Report on the Cotton Textile Industry, 1927, p. 123).

The progress of the cotton textile industry which is not only the oldest but also the largest and the most important industry of Bombay is reviewed from 1885 to 1975, in tables Nos. 5, 6, 7 and 8.

The position of the cotton textile mill companies in Bombay in regard to their total amount of paid-up capital, number of spindles installed, average number of spindles at work in the first shift, doubling spindles installed, number of looms installed, average number of looms at work in the first shift, approximate quantity of cotton consumed, average number of workers employed daily in all shifts and total number of working days can be assessed from table No.5.

TABLE No. 5
Cotton Mills in Bombay since 1885

Year	Mills	Spindles	Looms	Average number of hands employed daily	Approximate quantity of cotton consumed
					Cwts. (Bales of 112 lbs.)	Bales (392 lbs.)
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
1885	49	13,47,390	12,011	41,545	13,73,743	3,92,498
1890	70	18,95,660	13,785	59,139	22,26,819	6,36,234
1895	69	21,23,892	20,217	75,740	28,53,879	8,15,394
1900	82	25,36,891	22,215	72,914	26,06,800	7,44,800
1905	81	25,60,916	28,073	92,924	37,53,582	10,72,452
1910	89	28,24,046	41,931	1,04,550	34,44,203	9,84,058
1915	86	29,94,367	51,846	1,11,924	35,91,175	10,26,050
1920	83	29,64,526	60,634	1,40,208	33,50,025	9,57,150
1925	82	34,56,233	72,266	1,53,009	34,81,562	8,94,732
1930	81	34,30,733	76,697	N.A.	30,71,222	8,77,492
1935	74	29,90,088	68,385	N.A.	30,98,382	8,85,252
1940	65	27,48,644	65,177	N.A.	28,47,075	8,13,450
1941	64	27,89,080	65,292	NA.	40,17,888	11,47,968
1942	66	28,19,832	66,120	N.A.	45,85,119	13,10,034
1943	66	28,31,328	66,269	N.A.	51,95,617	14,84,462
1944	65	28,34,052	66,179	N.A.	51,81,930	14,51,930
1945	65	28,03,406	66,164	N.A.	52,26,340	14,93,240
1946	65	28,32,530	65,948	1,90,795	47,68,701	13,62,486
1947	65	28,50,870	65,836	2,11,347	39,44,724	11,27,064
1948	65	28,66,150	65,880	2,01,083	43,03,040	12,29,440
1949	65	29,04,138	65,238	2,09,508	41,80,442	11,94,412
1950	65	29,27,162	65,163	2,00,135	35,21,455	10,06,130
1951	65	29,39,162	65,384	1,96,363	32,39,761	9,25,646
1952	65	29,20,509	65,379	1,97,900	36,46,685	10,41,910
1953	65	30,17,049	65,628	2,04,274	43,53,643	12,43,898
1954	65	30,26,044	65,671	2,07,179	44,09,587	12,59,882
1955	66	31,01,672	65,904	2,03,391	44,49,557	12,71,302
1956	66	31,13,620	64,467	2,12,762	44,41,297	12,68,942
1957	66	31,60,954	64,134	2,12,608	46,71,086	13,34,596
1958	65	32,12,650	64,426	2,00,446	43,83,295	12,52,370
1959	65	31,69,777	64,335	1,91,335	43,47,742	12,42,212
1960	65	31,93,699	63,407	1,94,398	42,55,349	12,15,814
1961	63	32,25,441	62,880	1,97,404	44,45,952	12,70,272
1962	62	32,09,560	61,720	1,97,922	46,79,262	13,36,932
1963	62	32,35,928	62,186	1,93,303	44,87,049	12,82,014
1964	62	33,54,872	63,273	1,97,269	47,26,008	13,50,288
1965	62	34,29,491	63,255	1,92,786	46,82,167	13,37,962
1966	62	35,21,411	63,713	1,86,915	43,01,983	12,29,138
1967	59	35,60,730	64,134	1,85,601	41,33,472	11,80,992
1968	59	*35,53,790	62,909	1,74,975	42,38,573	12,11,020
1969	59	*35,56,702	63,057	1,70,766	41,33,990	11,66,717
1970	59	*35,10,578	62,450	1,74,167	42,36,996	12,10,570
1971	59	*35,35,114	62,897	1,72,208	38,70,734	11,05,924
1972	59	*35,81,220	62,961	1,74,666	42,00,786	12,00,225
1973	58	*35,46,488	62,066	1,78,236	43,52,675	12,43,622
1974	58	*35,17,962	62,093	1,75,138	40,79,783	11,65,652
1975	58	*35,52,754	62,564	1,67,819	39,08,700	11,16,691

*Excludes doubling spindles but includes waste spindles,

TABLE No. 6
Progress of Cotton Textile Mill Industry in Bombay

Year	Average working daily (1st Shift)		Cotton consumed  bales of 392 lbs	Production of		Average Number of hands employed daily all shifts
	Spindles	Looms
				Yarn (000kgs)	Cloth (million meters)
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
	Year ending 31st August			Year ending 31st December		Year ending 31st August
1941	2,465,515	62,688	1,147,968	206,083	1,372
1942	2,457,782	61,141	1,310,034	207,644	1,257
1943	2,578,875	63,171	1,484,462	232,071	1,470
1944	2,633,694	63,863	1,451,980	230,354	1,545
1945	2,587,850	65,390	1,493,240	229,686	1,475
1946	2,625,770	62,312	1,362,486	185,837	1,238	190,795
1947	2,646,600	60,968	1,127,064	170,426	1,138	211,347
1948	2,682,245	61,452	1,229,440	194,965	1,342	201,083
1949	2,574,850	60,096	1,194,412	175,577	1,182	209,508
1950	2,667,556	61,209	1,006,130	134,125	959	200,135
1951	2,655,637	60,874	925,646	165,253	1,253	196,363
1952	2,688,330	61,690	1,041,910	173,777	1,297	197,900
1953	2,758,193	62,645	1,243,898	193,147	1,431	204,274
1954	2,800,581	62,405	1,259,882	192,445	1,438	207,179
1955	2,779,397	62,074	1,271,302	199,910	1,459	203,319
1956	2,867,952	61,693	1,268,942	196,290	1,469	212,762
1957	2,872,308	60,745	1,334,596	208,985	1,508	212,608
1958	2,802,895	59,497	1,252,370	189,767	1,370	200,446
1959	2,804,418	58,531	1,242,212	192,627	1,344	191,335
1960	2,877,061	58,442	1,215,814	189,475	1,347	194,398
1961	2,934,480	58,703	1,270,272	206,844	1,371	197,404
1962	2,978,221	58,464	1,336,932	200,844	1,304	197,922
1963	2,947,675	57,880	1,282,014	201,832	1,271	193,303
1964	3,056,452	59,333	1,350,288	205,755	1,288	197,269
1965	3,057,566	58,751	1,337,762	195,474	1,243	192,786
1966	3,057,605	57,756	1,229,138	184,556	1,143	186,915
1967	3,173,630	58,545	1,180,992	171,226	1,085	185,601
1968	3,024,682	55,946	1,196,287	182,340	1,168	174,975
1969	2,986,147	55,520	1,166,717	175,518	1,137	170,766
1970	3,115,153	57,128	1,210,570	171,389	1,120	174,167
1971	3,079,294	56,513	1,159,523	159,523	1,120	172,208
1972	3,068,943	56,114	1,200,224	178,610	1,203	174,666
1973	3,133,531	57,038	1,243,622	182,732	1,169	178,236
1974	2,964,009	54,861	1,165,652	166,229	1,125	175,138
1975	2,696,889	52,869	1,116,691	160,889	1,074	167,819
1976	2,874,811	52,298	1,232,539	169,169	1,069	174,027
1977	2,902,790	54,386	1,086,175	138,466	896	170,286
1978	7,868,288	54,855	1,013,490	153,471	928	167,273
1979	2,756,909	53,152	1,056,081	148,801	863	164,187
1980	2,765,038	54,119	1,177,158	166,120	899	165,126

Note.—Columns 1, 2, 3 and 6—Figures taken from the Association's Mill Statements. Columns 4 and 5—Figures of production of yarn and cloth taken from" Indian Textile Bulletin " published by the Office of the Textile Commissioner, Bombay.

Production was at a standstill in all the mills in Bombay City and Island for about 2 months from 14th August to 2nd week of October in 1950 and for 41 days, from 30th December 1973 to 9th February 1974.

TABLE No. 7
Production of Cloth by Textile Mills in Bombay City

(Figures in million metres)

Year	Coarse	Medium		Fine	Super Fine	Total
		Lower	Higher
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
1967	165	213	459	46	202	1,085
	(15.2)	(19.7)	(42.3)	(4.2)	(18.6)	(100.0)
1968	171	248	467	58	224	1,168
	(14.6)	(21.2)	(40.0)	(5.0)	(19.2)	(100.0)
1969	136	208	542	52	199	1,137
	(12.0)	(18.3)	(47.7)	(4.5)	(17.5)	(100.0)
1970	135	174	500	67	244	1,120
	(12.1)	(15.5)	(44.6)	(6.0)	(21.8)	(100.0)
1971	123	204	472	72	249	1,120
	(11.0)	(18.2)	(42.1)	(6.4)	(22.3)	(100.0)
1972	155	259	528	53	208	1,203
	(12.9)	(21.5)	(43.9)	(4.4)	(17.3)	(100.0)
1973	172	278	416	91	212	1,169
	(14.7)	(23.8)	(35.6)	(7.8)	(18.1)	(100.0)
1974	143	256	499	75	153	1,125
	(12.6)	(22.7)	(44.4)	(6.7)	(13.6)	(100.0)
1975	143	249	448	64	170	1,074
	(13.3)	(23.2)	(41.7)	(6.0)	(15.8)	(100.0)
1976	155	252	446	67	149	1,069
	(14.5)	(23.6)	(41.7)	(7.3)	(13.9)	(100.0)
1977	219	293	560	44	172	1,288
	(17.0)	(22.7)	(43.5)	(3.4)	(13.4)	(100.0)
1978	129	221	462	48	68	928
	(13.9)	(23.8)	(49.7)	(5.2)	(7.4)	(100.0)
1979	126	230	406	40	61	863
	(14.6)	(26.6)	(47.0)	(4.6)	(7.2)	(100.0)

(Figures in brackets indicate the percentage of each category of cloth produced.) Source.—Figures extracted from the Statistical Bulletin entitled " Indian Textile Bulletin " published by the office of the Textile Commissioner, Bombay.

TABLE No. 8
Cotton Mills in Bombay, 1975

	Name of Mill	Paid-up capital (Rs in lakhs)	No of spindles installed (Total)	Average No of spindles at work	Doubling spindles installed	No of looms installed (Total)	Average No of looms at work in the fir£t shift		Approximate quantity of Cotton con­sumed (Bales of 180 Kgs)			Average No of workers employed daily(AH shifts)	Total No of days worked from 1st Sept 74 to 31st Aug 1975
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7		8			9	10
1	Jupiter  Mills No 2* (formerly Hind Mills No l)		82,292	53,869	7,628	1,325	1,185		21,474			3,440	288
2	Apollo Mills*		51,276	31,095	3,488	902	638		13,583			2,034	286
3	Bombay Dyeing and Mfg Co (Spring Mills)	433.69	1,34,368	1,22,047	12,912	2,160	2,105		57,668			5,477	301
4	Bombay  Dyeing  and Mfg (Textile Mills)		15,232 71,688	2,213 61,917	23,280	1,610	1,169		25,422			6,792	303
5	Bradbury Mills	35.00	48,912	35,268	2,316	840	623		13,319			2,275	344
6	Century Spinning and Manufacturing	709.76	1,44,444	1,23,380	7,336	3,042	2,933		77,980			9,899	345
7	Coorla Spinning and Weaving	65.00	36,228	31,473	1,424	654	605		17,067			2,148	298
8	Crown Spinning  and  Manufacturing Co (formerly Dhun Mills)	50.00	59,396	38,450	6,868	1,141	905		15,047			2,411	346
9	Dakshe Pvt Ltd *											,
10	Dawn Mills Company	42.00	54,836	49,851	14,120				11,826			1,323	335
11	Digvijay  Spinning & Weaving Mills *(formerly Dinshaw Petit Mills)		44,064	32,073	2,336	885	854		13,423			2,281	290
12	Edward Textiles Mills* (formerly  Edward   Sassoon Mills Limited)		50,992	30,314	2,140	932	586		12,285			1,817	296
13	(a)Elphinstone Spinning  and Weaving  Mills  Co   Unit No 1 (b) Elphinstone  Spinning and Weaving Mills  Co   Unit No 2 (formerly Moon Mills)	55.00	51,956	38,509	2,688	935	749		13,723			2,380	302
14	Finlay Mills	120.00	72,224	44,413	4,672	958	844		10,824			3,511	300
15	Gold Mohur Mills	120. 00	66,844	47,386	2,312	1,142	1,022		12,966			2,602	301
16	Hindoostan   Spinning   and Weaving Mills Co	145.80	1,18,624	78,358	7,700	2,489	1,950		49,267			5692	348
17	India   United  Mills No 1* (formerly Jacob Mills)		1,08,516	75,783		2,130		1,858			29,305	5,245	293
18	(a) India United Mills No 2* (formerly Alexandra Mill)		34,264	23,120	4,310	733		605			44,190	2,203	295
	(6) India  United  Mills No 3* (formerly  E D   Sassoon Mill)		95,548	63,336		752		648				2,434	295
19	India  United  Mills  No 4* (formerly Rachel Mill)					1,789		1,705				2,190	268
20	India  United Mills  No 5* (formerly Manchester Mill)		30,420	26,589	352	684		623			9,167	1,495	268
21	Jam Manufacturing Co	27.51	49,784	36,011	1,220	1,084		981			14,997	2,536	293
22	Kamala Mills (formerly Ebra-himbhoy  Pabaney Mills)	54. 50	62,176	51,091	4,240	1,031		916			18,881	2,681	306
23	Khatau  Makanji  Spng  and Weaving Co	254. 36	1,31,080	1,16,262	19,916	1,494		1,112			17,440	5,376	300
24	Kohinoor Mills Co (No l & 2)	113. 40	1,30,208	1,05,027	34,084	1,562		1,373			33,126	5,951	300
25	Kohinoor Mills Co (No 3)				6,456	398		306				973	301
26	Mafatlal Fine Spng and Mfg Co Unit  No  2   (formerly Sassoon  Spng and  Weaving Mills)		62,728	54,962	6,404	1,240		1,053			40,903	2,893	306
27	Mafatlal Fine Spng and Mfg Co Unit No 3 (formerly New Union Mill)		34,096	32,835	1,460	871		801			17,019	1,846	306
28 29	Modern  Mills,  Mill  No 1 (formerly  Mysore  Spng  and \ Manufacturing)   Modern Mills, Mill No 2	108 41	61,196	55,836	7,324	836		717			12,696	2,135	300
30	Morarjee Goculdas Spng and Weaving Co	204 13	1,03,416	80,577	17,348	1,848		1,576			40,654	4,725	345
31	National Cotton Products*
32	New City of Bombay Mfg Co	54 00	56,124	46,664	4,080	614		512			22,203	1,680	344
33	New Great Eastern Spng and Weaving Co	43 00	52,688	40,721		1,008		834			22,430	2,238	348
34	New Kaiser-I-Hind Spng and Weaving Mills *		54,424	42,275	5,040	1,199		912			12,470	2,342	291
35	Phoenix Mills  (formerly Britannia Mills)	72 00	98,032	82,338	22,744	1,218		897			30,200	4,889	349
36	Piramal Spinning and Weaving Mills	56 00	56,528	47,680	5,624	1,021		907			13,899	2,517	348
37	Podar  Mills (formerly  Toyo Podar Cotton Mills)	160 00	49,116	44,876		930		921			31,646	2,369	348
38	Prakash  Cotton  Mills (for­merly  Seksaria  Cotton Mills No 2)	49 47	62,636	48,348	3,560	830		733			23,474	2,686	340
39	Raghuvanshi Mills  (formerly Kilachand Mills)	45.00	48,452	38,706	5,968					7,139		1,153	298
40	Rajesh Textile Mills (formerly    Sayaji Mill No 2)	50.00	53,964	44,625	5,088	984		971		16,130		2,712	302
41	Ruby  Mills (formerly  Sorab Mills)	32.00	31,810	18,652	2,992	524		444		6,486		1,116	304
42	Sayaji Mills No 2 * (formerly  NewPrahlad Mills)	57.93	47,672	35,298	628	1,022		902		13,754		2,232	305
43	Seksaria Cotton Mills * (formerly Currimbhoy and Mohammed-bhoy Mills)		81,036	45,331	4,420	1,154		927		15,975		3,065	292
44	Shree Madhusudan Mills	100.00	89,868	64,983	2,996	1,534		1,449		21,193		3,811	302
	(a) Shree Mukesh Textile Mills (formerly  Colaba  Textile Mills) (6)  Mukesh  Textile   Mills (formerly  Jehangir  Wadia Mill)	110. 00	19,436	17,797	1,612	676		587		7,343		1,466	306
46	Shreeniwas Cotton   Mills   (formerly Fazulbhoy  Mills)	114.80	1,03,828	75,171	5,150	1,578		1,505		20,638		5,025	346
47	Shree  Ram  Mills (formerly Crecscent Mills Ltd )	200.00	1,22,576	90,358	26,492	1,449		1,223		18,266		4,755	305
48	(a)           Shree Sitaram Mills (for merly Sir Shapurji Broacha Mills)      (Connaught Mill), (b) Shree Sitaram  Mills (New Empress Mill)	60. 00	61,788	42,541	1,848	1,155		1,006		19,048		3,520	302
49	Shree Textiles*
50	Simplex Mills Co	149 69	50,392	30,686	7,432	792		691		21,432		2,325	346
51	Standard Mills Co	412 00	52,028	44,786	6,096	1,619		1,041		23,461		3,435	346
52 53	Standard  Mills (New Chinay Mills)   J Swadeshi Mills	136 00	51,104 91,048	46,691 54,973	11,360 5,040	781 2,252		686 1,625		9,415 25,513		1,444 3,946	351 301
54	Swan Mills	96 00	49,388	41,454	5,788	628		582		10,649		2,311	301
55	Tata Mills	150 23	84,512	66,573	9,970	1,939		1,617		28,798		5,086	305
56	Victoria Mills	57 28	56,972	28,107	1,852	1,030		773		14,833		2,261	302
57	Western India Mill	60 00	23,524	17,210	1,368	1,160		672		13,717		2,314	306
	Total	4804. 02	35,52,754,	25,96,889	3,49,782	62,564		52,869		11,03,184		1,67,819

* Government-run mills. Source.—Mill Statement, 1975, Bombay Millowners' Association

The cotton textile industry of Bombay comprises principal and subsidiary industries, such as, (a) cotton spinning, weaving, shrinking, sanforising, mercerising and finishing of cotton textiles; (b) printing, dyeing and bleaching of cotton textiles; (c) cotton ginning, cleaning and baling; and (d) weaving and finishing of cotton textiles in powerlooms. It would be interesting to analyse the structure of the cotton textile industry as a whole and its subsidiary groups on the basis of the Annual Survey of Industries conducted by the Government of India in the years 1973-74 and 1975-77. The statistics presented below cover the census as well as the sample sectors of the Annual Survey of Industries.

It is attempted to analyse the principal characteristics of the cotton textile industry in Bombay and its place in Maharashtra, as per the Annual Survey of Industries in 1975-77. There were 197 registered factories in Bombay which formed 19.78 per cent of the factories in the State. They provided employment to 1,95,318 persons which formed 65.04 per cent of the textile employment in Maharashtra. It may be pointed out that the Annual Survey of Industries might have under­estimated the employment in textile industry in Bombay. This might be due to the method of classification adopted. As per the reports of the Bombay Millowners Association and other authorities, the industry provides employment to about 2.5 lakh persons.This latter figure appears to be more plausible.

The capital invested in the factories in Bombay was computed at Rs.3,00,21 lakhs which constituted 73.20 per cent of the Maharashtra cotton mills. The value of output of the Bombay mills was computed at Rs.6,91,87 lakhs or 77.60 per cent of that in Maharashtra. The value added on manufacture by the mills in this city was as high as   Rs.1,92,06 lakhs or 82.82 per cent of that in the mills in the State.

This analysis brings home the conclusion that Bombay accounts for more than three-fourth of the cotton textile industry in Maharashtra. Though the percentage number of factories in Bombay is not so high, the percentage employment, investment, output and value added on manu­facture is very high. It can therefore be safely deduced that the factories in Bombay are very large in size as compared to those elsewhere in the State.

It can be observed that the value of output was about 230 per cent of the invested capital in Bombay.

The figures given represent the annual averages for the respective survey periods.

There were 257 registered factories in Bombay in 1973-74 which declined to 197 in 1975-77. The decline might be due to closure of the marginal units and to the switching over to other products by some units during the period. We shall subsequently observe that in spite of a decline in number, there was no real decline in the industry. The factories provided employment to 1,89,846 persons including 1,86,489 workers in 1973-74 and to 1,95,318 persons including 1,69,828 workers in 1975-77. Thus the total employment showed an increase in spite of a decline in number of units. The figures of employment show the preponderance of workers in total employees. The factories worked for 6,26,32,890 man-days per annum in 1975-77 period.

The position regarding capital of the factories in Bombay is given below:—

(Rs. in lakhs)

Item	1973-74	1975-77
Fixed capital	85,09.56	1,11,61.92
Working capital	81,36.89	92,52.96
Invested capital	2,50,61.44	3,00,20.87
Outstanding loans	1,33,35.13	1,74,59.07

The outstanding loans were, thus, very much higher than either the fixed capital or working capital. This shows the financial position of the industry.

The structure of costs of production is given below:—

(Rs. in lakhs)

Item	1973-74	1975-77
Wages to workers	82,35.32	1,13,34.94
Total emoluments	1,01,44.49	1,47,17.87
Fuel consumption	23,37.29	57,66.79
Material consumed	2,40,74.19	3,69,71.19
Other inputs	N.A.	59,14.98
Total inputs	3,08,59.16	4,86,52.96

The wage bill and emoluments might have increased over the period under study due to the rise in cost of living index, the dearness allowance to be paid being linked with the cost of living index. The rise in the value of fuel consumption can be attributed to the enormous rise in the prices of furnace oil. The power cut and several restrictions on use of energy had required the mills to resort to costlier self-generated means of power. The rise in costs of materials can be accounted for by the rising cost of raw cotton, the hike in the price of long staple cotton and the price of viscose fibre. The increase in railway freight and in the prices of dyes, chemicals, stores, spare parts and packing material appear to have contributed to the tremendous rise in the value of inputs in the Bombay industry. (Bombay Millowners' Association (information supplied by it).)

The value of plant and machinery was enumerated at Rs.2,03,57.11 lakhs and Rs. 2,22,75.16 lakhs, respectively in,1973-74 and 1975-77. The structure of output of the industry is analysed below:—
(Rs. in lakhs)

Item	1973-74	1975-77
Value of products	4,73,20.63	6,10,73.60
Value of other output	N.A.	81,13.16
Total output	5,03,18.92	6,91,86.76
Depreciation	12,07.47	13,27.58
Value added on manufacture	1,82,52.82	1,92,06.22

There was, thus, an all-round rise in the value of products and output over the years under reference. Though a part of the rise could be accounted for by the rise in prices, there appears to be a rise in the output of the industry. The Annual Survey of 1975-77 computed the factory payments at Rs. 28,34.70 lakhs and net income at 1,63,71.52 lakhs per annum.

The above analysis leads us to some deductions. Emoluments comprise a large share of the total cost of production in this industry. It is a labour intensive industry unlike chemicals industry or electrical machinery industry. The value of output was about one and a half times the total inputs. The net income of the Bombay mills was much more than 50 per cent of their capital investment.

It may be useful to elucidate some of the other aspects of the industry.

The sector of mills engaged in cotton spinning, weaving, shrinking, sanforising, mercerising and finishing of cotton textiles is by far the biggest and the most important one among the other sectors of the cotton textile industry from all points of view. It provides employment to about 1.82 lakh persons out of a total of about 1.95 lakhs in the entire industry. The employment in this sector has also registered a rise of about 4,000 in the period 1975-77 over that in 1973-74. Though this rise in employment may not appear to be sizeable, it is significant in view of the measures of rationalisation of production and capital intensive methods of production adopted by some of the mills. The capital investment in this sector of the industry amounts to about Rs. 2,87.25 crores as against the investment of Rs. 3,00.21 crores in the entire industry. The capital investment has also registered a significant rise in 1975-77 over that in 1973-74. Even   after   granting   allowance   for   rise due   to   rise   in   prices, 104  there appears to be real rise in capital investment, fixed capital and working capital during the period of comparison. The value of inputs of this sector also forms a very sizeable proportion of the value of inputs in the entire cotton industry, for example Rs. 4,40.89 crores as against Rs. 4,86.52 crores. The value of products of the cotton spinning, shrinking, weaving, sanforising, mercerising and finishing industry forms almost about 97 per cent of the value of products of the total industry. In respect of the value added on manufacture which is one of the most important aspects in the study of industries, this sector accounts for about 92.65 per cent of the value added on manufacture in the entire cotton textile industry.

It is thus evident that the spinning, weaving, shrinking, sanforising, mercerising and finishing sector of the cotton textile industry is the core sector of the industry.

The next sector second in importance is the one engaged in printing, dyeing and bleaching of cotton textiles. This sector of the industry is comparatively of later origin than the cotton spinning and weaving sector. It received encouragement for growth mainly after Independence of India. Its progress after Independence is attributable to the ban on imports of highly processed and finer qualities of cloth from abroad, and also to the development of technical know-how in the country. The factories in this sector are smaller in size, some of the units being very small in comparison to the spinning and weaving mills. It may roughly said to be an ancillary industry to the cotton textile industry.

In the very nature of things the cotton ginning, cleaning and baling factories form a minor sector of the cotton textile industry. A major proportion of the raw cotton required by Bombay textile mills is processed, ginned and baled in the centres of production of cotton in the districts of Maharashtra and Gujarat. If is more economical for the mills to purchase the ginned and processed raw cotton from outside the city. It is however a historical accident that 14 ginning and baling factories are still in existance in this crowded city where no space is available for location of more composite units warranting a higher degree of technocracy.

Weaving and finishing of cotton textiles in powerlooms is also a very small sector of the cotton textile industry in Bombay. A majority of the units are in the small scale sector and managed on a proprietorship basis. In the last about 20 years, handlooms have been yielding ground to powerlooms on account of the higher productivity, economic viability and the better quality of powerloom cloth. The powerloom sector, though a minor one in Bombay, accounts for a good amount of production, as it enjoys a number of incentives from government as also substantial excise concessions which are denied to the cotton mill industry.

In 1977 there were 24 powerloom factories with a capital investment of Rs. 29.40 lakhs and working capital of Rs. 27.24 lakhs. Though they provided employment to only 595 persons, the value of their out-put was Rs. 2,91.82 lakhs, which meant quite a high per capita out-put per worker. The value added on manufacture, viz., Rs. 48.62 lakhs in 1977, also meant a sizeable value added per capita. The industry however suffers from under-utilisation of installed capacity which is sometime, due to financial constraints, marketability of cloth or inadequate power supply.
There were 12,196 authorised powei looms in cotton weaving and 12,800 for art silk weaving in Bombay in 1978.

As per report received from the Bombay Millowners Association, (Officially received on 25th February 1982.) there are 44 cotton spinning and weaving mills owned by 36 mill com­panies, in the private sector in Bombay, besides the mills controlled by government. Besides, there are eight processing factories, three woollen mills and two art-silk factories, in the private sector which are members of the Association. The Bombay cotton textile mills provide employment to about two and a half lakh persons. The paid-up capital of the mills amounts to about Rs. 70 crores. They produce cloth of every description, both pure cotton and blended fabrics and man-made fibres. The value of production of the cotton mills in the city is estimated at Rs. 15,00 crores per annum, of which products worth about Rs. 250 crores are exported to foreign countries. The Bombay cloth exports are destined to almost all continents of the world. The Bombay cloth enjoys a wide market all over the country.

The Bombay mills obtain raw cotton from Maharashtra as also from the adjoining States of Gujarat, Karnatak and Andhra Pradesh. The mills combine man-made fibres with cotton for production of certain categories of cloth.

The consumption of raw cotton and production of cloth and yarn by the Bombay mills is given below (Notes and News, December, 1981, Millowners Association) :—

Year	Cotton consumed ('000 bales)	Production of
		Yarn (in million kgs.)	Cloth (in million metres)
1976	1,246	168	1,069
1977	1,048	138	896
1978	1,126	153	927
1979	1,078	148	863
1980	1,196	167	971

STATEMENT SHOWING CLOTH PROCESSED BY COTTON TEXTILE MILLS IN BOMBAY CITY
(The Indian Textile Bulletin, Textile Commissioner, Bombay.)

(Figures in million metres)

Year	Bleached	Piece Dyed	Printed	Mercerised	Sanforised	Other Chemically processed	Total processed	Total Production of Cloth
1971	553	300	249	293	111	21	1,392	1,120
1972	567	326	780	257	104	32	1,566	1,243
1973	506	284	250	257	120	34	1,451	1,169
1974	510	225	221	222	80	23	1,281	1,125
1975	497	254	321	257	94	23	1,448	1,074
1976	510	217	281	309	133	23	1,474	1,069
1977	591	273	295	387	100	52	1,798	1,896
1978	623	313	305	410	221	55	1,927	928
1979	585	265	286	329	222	41	1,759	865

Problems of Cotton Textile Industry : The Cotton Textile industry of Bombay, as of India, is facing ominous conditions of stagflation at present. It has a twin problem of rising cost of production and falling demand for cloth. The industry is also facing the problem of consumer resistance. The escalating prices of crude and petroleum products has been a powerful catalyst of the cost hike. The rising cost of raw cotton and the uncertainty of supply have contributed to the rise in production cost of cloth. Though the rise in price of long staple cotton was only 20 per cent in 1979-80, the price of medium staple varieties increased very steeply. The price of viscose fibre which is combined with cotton fibre increased from Rs. 12.72 in 1978-79 to Rs. 18.42 per kg. in 1981.

The industry is suffering from infrastructural deficiencies as well. Power cuts continue to plague the mills which are required to resort to costlier self-generated means of power. The price of furnace oil escalated by 79 per cent in 1981 (Rs. 2,344 per kilolitre in December 1981.) over 1979. Besides the increase in railway freight, the industry is subjected to a rise in prices of dyes, chemicals, stores, spare parts and packing materials. Wages in the industry registered a considerable rise, by about 24 per cent from 1979 to 1981, (As per Millowners' Association,) which have added to the spiral of rising costs.

As per the Millowners' Association, the cost of production of cloth by the Bombay mills has increased by about 30 per cent in 1981 over that in 1979.

The industry is reported to be facing resistance from the consumer who is already oppressed by escalating prices and falling purchasing power of money. Even the Market Research Wing of the Textiles Committee has admitted that any rise in the prices of cloth would adversely affect the off-take of cotton textiles. This oldest organised industry which is also the mainstay of about 2.50 lakh persons is in the grip of a stagflation.

A mention of the role of the Bombay Millowners' Association would not be out of place. It is one of the oldest trade organisations in the country, established on 1st February 1875. It represents 120 cotton mills, eight dyeing and processing factories and three woollen mills from all over the country. All the mills in the private sector in Bombay, viz., 44 cotton spinning and weaving mills, eight processing mills, three woollen mills and two art silk mills, are its members. The Association advocates the cause of the industry in regard to its advancement, safe­guarding of interests and arbitration with the government in matters of commercial and fiscal policies relating to the industry. Its services to the Indian cotton industry were quite illustrious in the pre-Independence period when the mills particularly needed protection against cut-throat competition from Japan and England. The textile mills in Bombay owed a lot to this organisation in those days of alien rule.

The role of the Association during the post-Independence era has been more in the nature of establishment of amicable relations among the members, safeguarding their interest, settlement of disputes, advocating the cause of the industry as regards fiscal measures, import and export policies and improvement of infrastructure facilities to the industry.

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