Technological Choice in Textile Industry Revisited: The Handloom - Powerloom Controversy

Kanpur as an industrial centre has experienced de-industrialisation after independence. The worst sufferer has been the organised textile mill sector, which is simply non-existent today. The resultant vacuum has been filled by unorganlsed textile sector, namely handloom and powerloom. This paper re-examines the handloom-powerloom controversy in the context of unorganised textile sector of Kanpur and concludes that it cannot be said that handloom and powerloom are always employment and growth maximising respectively. Rather, many a times the converse is true.