In name, Akkalkot road falls in an industrial area. But the 4- 5-km potholed road, in Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) in Solapur district, is deserted. The factory units, spread across 216 hectares of the industrial area, resemble homes with white rangolis outside each gate. In the quiet afternoon, the only sound is the khat-khat of power looms, bearing testimony to still-running textile industry of the area. Here, 600-700 units operate with about 10 people in each, weaving textile for Solapuri chaddars and towels. Chaddars are used in daily life for everything from a floor spread to a blanket.
In his Solapur home Govind Zanwar, 54, who produces bamboo towels now after switching out of the chaddar, says there are many reasons for its decline. Besides a change in customer tastes, cheaper synthetic textiles flooding the market, and the increased cost of production, he ascribes the downfall to the lack of innovation in design. “Aesthetics matter and the chadar features loud colours. There is scope for a revival, but it will be difficult,” he says. Zanwar, who lives in a joint family of Marwaris, who were initially trading in cloth, got into the production of chaddar and towel about 15 years ago. His daughter and son do not want to get into the business, and are looking at careers as professionals in corporate jobs.
In 2005, the jacquard chaddar made from cotton yarn got the Geographical Indication (GI) stamp, an Indian government certification that a particular craft originated in an area. That year, the Geographical Indications Journal, a government document issued for GI tags, had listed at least 15,000 handlooms and power looms operating in Solapur, employing over 2 lakh people, all producing the Solapuri chaddar. In 2004, the journal reports that exports amounted to ₹500-600 crore.
Now, only 600-700 looms remain, according to data from the Textile Development Foundation (TDF), an association of manufacturers established in 1995 in Solapur. Exports have grown to ₹800-1,000 crore, as per estimates by an industry expert. The government does not have current figures.
Shriniwas Bura, 59, a textile engineer who worked in a corporate office in Mumbai, and then returned to start Bravo Kids School to train a generation to think independently and like entrepreneurs, is also the founder of TDF. He points out that chaddar production started declining from the year 2000.
He blames the government and manufacturers for the downfall. “The government ignored the industry, while the producers failed to innovate. We realised only when external players from Haryana’s Panipat captured our chaddar market. Now made-in-China towels are posing a danger to our towels,” Shriniwas says, going through old records, covered in dust. He says Haryana producers use synthetic fibres and claim they are cotton.
Pentappa Gaddam, the president of the Solapur Zilla Yantramag Dharak Sangh (SOZIYA).
| Photo Credit:
EMMANUAL YOGINI
Pentappa Gaddam, 65, a manufacturer and the president of the Solapur Zilla Yantramag Dharak Sangh (SOZIYA), an association that represents the community’s needs to the government, says, “We complained to the government about the duplication, but no one listened to us.” The association last complained eight years ago in letters, and has since stopped, since the number of producers has come down.
Legacy looms
In a grey building in in Siddheshwar Nagar, Suraj (name changed to protect privacy), 53, sits in his cramped office surrounded by piles of brightly coloured cotton towels. He is a third-generation producer, who owns 12 power looms operating in two shifts. “We all are working for survival. Forget bringing the next generation into the business. I am working at a 5% margin in towels; earlier it was 20%.” He has had to shift from the Solapuri jacquard chaddar to towels, because there is barely any demand for the chaddar any more. Suraj’s voice is drowned in the noise of the thana-bana (warp-weft) coming together to form cloth. It is Tuesday, the day he pays out weekly wages before the weekly day off on Wednesday.
Suraj belongs to the Padmashali community of weavers, who repeat a legend, where people from the community made a piece of cloth from padma tantu (lotus fabric) for Lord Vishnu THEN?. Around 1877, when Solapur’s first mill — Solapur Spinning & Weaving Mills — was established, they migrated here from Karimnagar, Warangal, and Siddipet, now in Telangana. It wasn’t just about job opportunities, but also to escape the drought in those areas.
“We are able to sustain ourselves today only because our past generations built the foundation. We own the land, so we don’t take its value into account while pricing products. If we do, we will run into losses,” says Siddheshwar Gaddam, 61, the owner of a chaddar and towel factory, and the third generation in the business.
His grandparents worked in mills like Jam Mill, Laxmivishnu Mill, and others, which collapsed in the 1950s. They purchased looms at a low price and started small units, becoming self-employed and giving employment to others. “From grey cloth, they shifted to chaddar, and 15 years ago we started with towels, as it had an international market.”
Many like Suraj and Siddheshwar have quit manufacturing Solapur chaddar and shifted to towels. Suraj asks, “When Prime Minister Narendra Modi is saying ‘go local’, why is the government not banning Chinese products.”
The decline of the Solapur chaddar is also tied to economic growth and a rise status among customers.
| Photo Credit:
EMMANUAL YOGINI
On the factory floor
Gurubai is lost between the warp and the weft, as she carefully winds thread on the bobbin. Spreading her hands out as she speaks, she says, “I don’t know how old I am; maybe 50. I came to Solpaur when I got married and started working with the chaddor. I was 15 then.”
She wears a shirt over her saree, so that the cotton dust doesn’t stick to her body and clothes. “It gets itchy,” she adds. She earns ₹800 to 1,000 every week for a 12-hour shift, and fears losing her job, because she knows no other work. Some months though, her salary just about pays her medical bills. Her work involves concentration and the use of her eyes, back, and hands. When these body parts ache, she takes an injection to deal with the pain.
Shridhar Gudheli, 48, a member of the labour union associated with the right-wing-politics Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), pointed out that workers don’t have uniforms or safety gear, characteristic of informal work in India. He started as a worker, but now he fights for the rights of workers. “The wages were last increased in 2022. Business owners will tell you the market is tight, just to avoid a wage increase,” he says.
On their lunch break, a group of power loom workers, all in their 30s and 40s, sit under a tree and open their tiffin boxes. They are covered in cotton dust. All the workers were in their late 30s to 40s., covered with cotton dust. Nagesh Usapoyal, 43, a third generation chaddar maker says, “I rode a cycle yesterday; I am still riding a cycle today. That is us, the textile industry workers.” He dusts off cotton threads from his torn brown vest and folded pants. Usapoyal says he earns ₹8,000 a month.
Laxman Kusma, 35, is at the managerial position as he is a college graduate, but earns the same amount as a weaver. His work is to manage the weavers and look after the factory in the absence of the owner. Sitting on his bike, Laxman says, “I work double shift. In the morning I deliver milk for ₹250 a day. I come to the factory at around 8 and leave at about 7 in the evening.”
SOZIYA has been demanding civic facilities like water, smooth roads, drainage lines, a fire unit, and low rates of interest on loans.
| Photo Credit:
EMMANUAL YOGINI
Work and wealth
The decline of the Solapur chaddar is also tied to economic growth and a rise status among customers. As incomes increase, people migrate from the chaddar to branded bedsheets that arrive in plastic packaging. Plastic mats have taken over from floor seating.
“With the chadar, washing is problematic, and our product was perceived as a poor man’s commodity,” says Govind Bura, 57, a manufacturer, and Shriniwas’ brother. Today, labourers prefer the towel, and those who have the chaddar say it lasts at least five years, so there are few repeat buyers.
Solapur holds a geographically strategic position as it is situated in the southeastern part of Maharashtra.
| Photo Credit:
EMMANUAL YOGINI
Manufacturers talk about the fact that Solapur receives water only once every five days, so it’s difficult for a water-intensive industry to run. For 1 kg of yarn, 60 litres of water is needed. Currently, the producers use tanker water. “Many shifted to recycled hosiery waste yarn as it is already dyed, which doesn’t require water, says Zanwar.
SOZIYA has been demanding civic facilities like water, smooth roads, drainage lines, a fire unit, and low rates of interest on loans. District Industries Centre (DIC) officer Santosh Kolte says, “We are aware of the water issue. The work of setting up a new pipeline has been in progress.” DIC’s job is to take care of Solapur’s needs.
In his home-balcony office, Ashok Indapure, a trader who commissions goods and sells them on Amazon.in, says, “Solapur Government Polytechnic College discontinued textile-related courses as the students did not opt for the course, given the outdated syllabus.” He feels if the Maharashtra State Board of Technical Education (MSBTE) sets up diploma courses it may help.
A few mill owners blame politicians for ignoring Solapur, a city of migrants with people who speak Marathi, Telugu, and Kannada. There is also a mix of Hindus and Muslims, preventing politicians from creating religion- and caste-based vote banks. One producer says, “Baramati had Sharad Pawar who made sure the region developed. We had Sushil Kumar Shinde (a former chief minister), but he did not have the political will to do anything.”
Solapur holds a geographically strategic position as it is situated in the southeastern part of Maharashtra, bordering Karnataka and a six-hour road ride from Telangana. The textile industry flourished in this area because of train connectivity. “But we needed an upgrade with airline connectivity,” says Shriniwas, adding that there has been an airport here for 30 years, but it has been mostly non-operational. The closest international airports are Pune and Hyderabad, both a five-hour drive away. “Buyers from other countries avoid travelling here, as they have to take various modes of transport to reach here.”
A jacket made from Solapur woven chaddars inside a factory in MIDC Solapur.
| Photo Credit:
EMMANUAL YOGINI
Innovation and diversification
Charwak Burgul, whose 2,200 square foot unit was started in 1987 by his father, says for any textile-based industry to survive generations, there must at least be a 10% year-on-year growth, so there is a cushion for the bad years. His margins have dropped from 25% WHEN to 10%. To cut the cost of production, manufacturers shifted from power looms to shuttle-less looms in 2010 or so. The speed is high and gives four times the output compared to the power loom, and requires limited manpower.
Charwak runs a full-fledged chaddar production unit with 10 power looms and 20 rapiers. “This is our legacy, we have to keep it alive somehow,” he says, while walking through rows of power looms that can produce 10 chaddars a day, unlike the rapiers that do double.
He claims Solapur is the only place in India where everything from the doubling of yarn (twisting two yarns) and dyeing to the winding (hanks transferred to bobbins) and warping (yarn transferred to beam) is done under one roof. For the towel, the process is the same, with the dyeing being done after weaving. The entire process takes 15 days. The most common sizes are 48×90 inches, 54×90 inches, and 60×90 inches. Charwak has tried to innovate by creating wall hangings, portraits, and bags, but he is unsure of where to find a market.
Youth and women in factory leadership are uncommon. Amit Bura, 25, is one of the few who has taken up his father’s trade, but he does not see the Solapur chaddar as a profitable business. “We are experimenting with other products. We tried bottle-making but did not succeed. We are exploring other ideas,” he says.
Published – March 07, 2025 11:25 am IST
