Is Ahmedabad a Textile City? The Real Story Behind India’s Fabric Hub

Ask anyone in India about textile cities, and Ahmedabad will come up fast. But is it really a textile city - or just a place that used to be one? The answer isn’t as simple as yes or no. If you walk through the old parts of the city, you’ll still see factories with faded brick walls, narrow lanes lined with fabric shops, and workers sorting bolts of cotton. But you’ll also see tech parks, coffee shops, and apartment complexes rising where mills once churned out cloth. So what’s the truth?

How Ahmedabad Became India’s Textile Heart

In the 1800s, Ahmedabad didn’t even have a major port or railway line. But it had something better: clean air, steady wind, and a river that didn’t flood. Local merchants noticed how well cotton grew in nearby Gujarat and decided to build spinning mills. By 1861, the first cotton mill, the Ahmedabad Spinning and Weaving Company, opened its doors. Within 20 years, there were over 50 mills. By 1920, Ahmedabad produced nearly 40% of India’s cotton cloth. It wasn’t just a city - it was the engine of India’s textile industry.

What made it work? Unlike Mumbai, which relied on imported machinery, Ahmedabad’s mill owners built their own. They hired local engineers, fixed broken looms, and trained workers from scratch. The city became known for durable, fine-quality cotton - especially for bed sheets and dhotis. By the 1950s, it was home to over 100 textile mills, employing more than 250,000 people. Families lived in mill colonies. Schools, hospitals, and even libraries were built by mill owners. It wasn’t just industry - it was a whole way of life.

The Decline That No One Saw Coming

By the 1980s, cracks started to show. Imported synthetic fabrics from China and Bangladesh undercut local prices. Many mills used old, slow looms. Labor costs rose. Government policies didn’t help - import duties were high, but innovation wasn’t rewarded. By 1998, nearly half the mills had shut down. The ones still running were often in poor condition. Workers lost jobs. The once-bustling mill lanes turned quiet. The city’s identity began to shift.

Some people thought Ahmedabad’s textile era was over. But they were wrong. The industry didn’t die - it changed.

What’s Left of the Textile Industry Today

Today, Ahmedabad still produces over 12% of India’s cotton textiles. That’s more than any other city in the country. The difference? It’s no longer dominated by giant mills. Instead, thousands of small factories and home-based units now make up the backbone of production. These aren’t the old brick buildings with smokestacks - they’re small workshops with computerized looms, LED-lit stitching rooms, and workers using tablets to track orders.

Companies like Arvind Limited and Welspun India still operate major plants here. Arvind makes denim for global brands like Levi’s and Lee. Welspun supplies bed linens to Walmart and IKEA. These aren’t small players - they’re global suppliers. But they don’t run the whole city anymore. Instead, they work with hundreds of local suppliers who make zippers, buttons, thread, and dye.

There are now over 8,000 textile units in Ahmedabad. About 70% of them employ fewer than 10 people. These are family-run businesses that have been passed down for generations. A father teaches his son how to match fabric shades. A mother runs a small embroidery unit from her kitchen. This isn’t mass production - it’s skilled, customized work.

Textile Clusters: Where the Real Action Is

If you want to see Ahmedabad’s textile soul today, don’t go to the old mills. Go to the clusters:

• Shivranjani - home to over 1,200 small dyeing and printing units. This is where fabric gets its color - from bright saree prints to muted hotel linens.
• Virar - the hub for garment stitching. Hundreds of small units stitch shirts, pants, and uniforms for exporters.
• Naroda - the center for technical textiles. Here, companies make fabric for hospitals, construction, and even space suits.
• Prahlad Nagar - where fabric traders gather. This is where buyers from Nepal, Kenya, and Mexico come to pick up bolts of cloth.

These aren’t tourist spots. They’re working zones. You’ll smell dye, hear the buzz of sewing machines, and see workers hunched over tables, checking threads with magnifying glasses. This is where the real textile economy lives now.

Technology Is Reshaping the Industry

Old mills didn’t use computers. New ones can’t survive without them. Today, most textile units in Ahmedabad use digital design software to create patterns. They track inventory with cloud-based systems. Some even use AI to predict fabric demand based on fashion trends in Europe and Southeast Asia.

One small unit in Naroda started using a $300 tablet to scan fabric defects. Before, workers had to roll each bolt by hand. Now, the tablet flags flaws in seconds. Defect rates dropped by 60%. The owner didn’t need to hire more staff. He just needed better tools.

Training centers funded by the government and private groups now teach young workers how to operate these machines. In 2025, over 12,000 people completed textile technology courses in Ahmedabad. Many of them are women - something unthinkable 30 years ago.

Is Ahmedabad Still a Textile City?

Yes - but not the way you think. It’s not a city of smokestacks and loud mills anymore. It’s a city of small workshops, digital tools, and global supply chains. It still produces more cotton fabric than any other Indian city. It still exports to over 80 countries. It still employs more than 400,000 people directly - and twice that many indirectly, from truck drivers to packaging workers.

The old mills are gone. But the spirit remains. The same hands that once turned cotton into cloth are now turning data into design. The same families that built this industry are now teaching their kids how to code, not just sew.

Ahmedabad didn’t lose its textile identity. It evolved it.

Why This Matters Beyond the City

Ahmedabad’s story is a model for other textile cities in India - places like Surat, Tiruppur, and Ludhiana. They’re all facing the same pressures: cheap imports, aging machines, and young people leaving for IT jobs. But Ahmedabad shows it’s possible to adapt. You don’t need to go back to the past. You need to build something new - using what you already have.

That’s why global buyers still come here. Not because it’s cheap. But because it’s reliable. Because the workers know fabric. Because the suppliers can deliver custom orders in 72 hours. Because the city still knows how to make cloth - just better than before.