Textile Industry Issues in the Rabakawi Banhati Urban Area

Indian handloom/ weaving sectors are ancient and have served the economy well in terms of employment. In India weaving industry is one of the largest cottage industries spread across the country. This sector is considered as significant from the point of view of its size and employment potential. However, in recent years the growth of handloom/weaving industry has been facing many problems due to variety of factors, such as mismatch between cloth production and marketing needs, availability of good quality yarn, govt. intervention in yarn supply, financial support, competition from other countries and lack of information etc. Rabkavi-Banhatti urban region is known for its flourishing famous handloom industry in Karnataka state. However these industries are also not free from problems. These industries have been facing some peculiar acute problems. It is in this context the researchers have chosen the Rabkavi-Banahatti twin urban region with an objective to study the problems of weaving industries. The Rabakavi-Banhatti urban region has the population size of 77004 persons (2011 census) with a total geographical area of 12.5 Sq. K. M. The researchers have made an attempt to trace-out the problems faced by the weaving industries of this area.