By IANS
Ahmedabad : The textiles industry in Gujarat has lost its pole position as a leading industrial sector. It now ranks sixth in the state with annual production valued at Rs.162.81 billion.
This was revealed in the latest Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) report for 2004-05, the data for which was given in a seminar on textiles underway here.
According to the report, food and beverages segment with yearly production valued at Rs.266.78 billion, engineering with Rs.263.21 billion worth production, and metallurgical industries with output estimated at Rs.205.130 billion a year have overtaken textile and apparel. They are now ranked third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
Topping the chart is petroleum with production worth Rs.866.39 billion a year, followed by chemicals and pharmaceuticals with output worth Rs.601.18 billion.
After the textile crisis in the mid-eighties, the textile industry slid down two places behind petroleum and chemicals. However, the ASI data, which according to R.J. Shah, chief principal industries advisor to the Gujarat government, was the latest survey on Indian industry, indicates that food, beverages, engineering, and metallurgical industries have gone ahead of textiles.
However, Shah, who was elaborating on the salient features of the state’s technical textiles scheme, said the data was no cause for worry because Gujarat textile industry’s share on all-India basis was far ahead of others.
The percent share of textiles in India at 14.2 percent was higher than that of food and beverages’ share of 13.8 percent, and more than double the share of engineering industries (6.1 percent) and metallurgical industries (6.4 percent).
The textile sector in Gujarat comprised 1,732 factories employing 166,000 workers in the large-scale segment. In the small-scale sector, there are 75,000 units including printing and processing, power looms, process houses, and hosiery and garment units employing more than 200,000 workers.