Factsheet: India's Clothing Industry The textile industry is one of the oldest industries in India. Due to the variety of plant-based raw materials such as cotton, wool, silk and jute as well as the oversupply of cheap labour, it has developed into one of the most important pillars of the Indian economy. It is predominantly women who are employed in cotton fields, spinning mills and sewing factories for low wages. India in facts and figures Population: 1.4 billion (2024)[i] Employees in the clothing industry (2022): approx. 45 million[ii], of which approx. 60-70 per cent[iii] are women Legal Minimum wage (2024): ranging from €107,76/month (INR 9,875) to €114,73/month (INR 10,514) [iv] (wage based on the Tamil Nadu state) Living wage according to Asia Floor Wage (2022): 33,920 INR/month (approx. € 369€/month)[v] Sixth largest exporter of textiles & clothing (2023)[vi] World's 2nd largest producer of cotton (2023)[vii] With the relocation of textile and clothing production to Asia, the industrialised countries adopted the "Multi-Fibre Arrangement" (MFA), which restricted the export of clothing to Western countries and thus protected European clothing production from cheap competition from Asia. The MFA ended in 2004, whereupon exports from Bangalore to Europe and the USA increased sharply. This led to a boom in the garment industry. Many women from rural areas came to the textile factories in the metropolises in search of work. Today, India is one of the largest clothing producers for Western countries and the sixth largest textile exporter in the world. Cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Tripur, Chennai and Bangalore are among the largest cotton producers in the world. According to the report "Prospects for the Textile and Clothing Industry in India, 2022", the apparel industry accounts for around 10 per cent of export earnings.[viii] The textile and clothing industry is the third largest employer in the country after agriculture and construction and employs around 45 million people.[ix] Seamstresses in a factory in Bangalore, 2019 © FEMNET Workers in the clothing industry The competitive and price pressure among companies has a strong impact on employees. The workload is very high due to deadline pressure and ambitious production targets. Overtime and sick days are rarely paid, and harassment in the workplace is not uncommon. Many workers earn less than the statutory minimum wage. The majority of employees are women: The average percentage of women is 70 per cent[x] but varies between around 60 per cent in the north and around 80 per cent in the south, and even around 90 per cent in the hotspot Bangalore. In northern India in particular, women are largely excluded from social life for cultural reasons. They are considered less productive than men and are typically employed in unskilled positions with the lowest wages. When the economy goes bad, they are the first to lose their jobs. Management positions are reserved for men. Workplace violence is widespread in the Indian garment industry. A report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 2022 found that more than one in five workers (almost 23 per cent) have experienced violence and harassment at work - whether physical, psychological or sexual.[xi] In the south of India, the women employed come mainly from rural or tribal areas of India. Migrants are favoured because the industry lacks cheap labour. The proportion of domestic migrant and temporary workers employed in the garment industry has risen sharply in recent years.[xii] In the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, labour in the 2,200 local spinning mills resembles a modern form of slavery. Of the approximately 250,000 young women employed there, around 80 per cent are exploited in so-called "camp labour", formerly known as the "Sumangali" system. Around 20 per cent of the factories operate without such forced labour. Some of these belong to the government, which also pays the women better. The total number of forced labourers in India is estimated at around 8 million. Worker in an Indian spinning mill, 2019 © FEMNET A study published in 2024 gathered the labour rights violations of the new form of the Sumangali system, the so-called Mutated Sumangali Scheme. Interviews were conducted in three randomly selected districts in Tamil Nadu and showed denial of minimum wages, uncertainty in conditions of employment, extended working hours, forced over-time work, refusal of annual leave, medical leave and weekly holidays, denial of bonus payment, and extended working hours during the night shift.[xiv] Minimum wages below subsistence level The statutory minimum wage for the clothing sector is set centrally in India. In addition, the states make local adjustments. In 2024 IndustriAll claimed that currently garment workers in Tamil Nadu earn in the range of INR 9875 (€ 107,76) to INR 10514 (€ 114,73). But with the implementation of the new minimum wage, the monthly wage will range between INR 15211 (€ 165,94) and INR 16379 (€ 178,68). A [xvi] Silent protest of the women's union GLU on International Women's Day 2017. © GLU/Munnade Anti-union climate Most employers still prohibit trade unions and any form of organisation in the factory. This means that workers have few opportunities to defend themselves against labour rights violations. Only five per cent of Indian textile workers belong to a trade union.[xvii] Many feel intimidated by their management and are afraid of being fired if they organise themselves into a union. Even legally required workers' committees usually only exist on paper. So far, there have only been isolated protests and strikes by workers, but these have all ended in violence and arrests by the police.[xviii] Women's concerns - gender discrimination, harassment, maternity protection and adequate childcare by the employer - are often systematically ignored. Factory workers in Bangalore 2015 © FEMNET Women's Rights While women's rights and gender equality are officially recognised in India, in reality women face widespread discrimination. Discrimination is not only based on their gender, but also on their caste, class, sexual orientation or traditions.[xix] This is particularly due to the still prevalent patriarchal social norms, which are particularly pronounced in North India. The overwhelming favouritism towards boys and men in Indian society has led to deep-rooted practices of discrimination and violence against girls and women, affecting their status, health and development. In poorer families, this also means that women have less access to food and sanitation. 27 per cent of girls[xx] are married before their 15th birthday. Marital rape is not a crime. The pressure to give birth to a boy is high: the high abortion rate of female foetuses is reflected in the sex ratio of 942 women to 1000 men.[xxi] Hundreds of people stream out of the factories at the same time at the end of their working shift, most of them arewomen. © FEMNET In 2013, a law was passed in India that prohibits sexual harassment of women in the workplace. However, they also run the risk of being harassed or assaulted on their way home, especially if they have to work at night.[xxii] Nevertheless, the measures planned for this, such as training and complaints committees in the factories, have only been implemented sparingly to date.[xxiii] The legal right of women to maternity leave is also circumvented in many factories: Pregnant women report harassment and high social pressure forcing them to resign, or illegally terminated employment contracts.[xxiv] Child labour The total number of working children between the ages of 6 and 13 in India accounts for 3.48 per cent of the total population.[xxv] Many of them are subjected to the worst forms of child labour. Children from rural areas with little education, from low Hindu castes, tribal communities and religious minorities are victims of child trafficking, forced labour and sexual exploitation. They are lured into garment factories, spinning mills and cotton farms with the promise of work, where they end up working in dangerous conditions for little or no pay.[xxvi] Bangalore. Photo: © Cividep Lack of enforcement of rights The legal situation in India is not even bad: the Indian legal system contains a large number of protective measures. The country has ratified six of the eight ILO core labour standards. Freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining are outstanding.[xxvii] However, the closer one monitors the supply chain, the more apparent the lack of transparency and the high rates of exploitation become. The problem lies primarily in the lack of enforcement of the law by the authorities and the lack of effective legal protection for those affected. A lack of controls, poorly developed rule of law structures, corruption and cronyism are widespread.[xxviii] Sources [i] https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/countries/IND/india/population [ii] https://theprint.in/macrosutra/why-indias-critical-textile-sector-employing-4-5-crore-people-is-facing-challenges/1299489/ [iii] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/textile-industry-supporting-indian-employment/ [iv] https://www.industriall-union.org/indian-garment-workers-protest-delay-in-wage-increase [v] https://asia.floorwage.org/living-wage/calculating-a-living-wage/ [vi] https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230113005327/en/India-Textile-and-Clothing-Industry-Prospects-Report-2022-Developments-Size-and-Structure-Textile-and-Clothing-Production-and-Consumption---ResearchAndMarkets.com [vii] https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/cotton-production-by-country [viii] https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230113005327/en/India-Textile-and-Clothing-Industry-Prospects-Report-2022-Developments-Size-and-Structure-Textile-and-Clothing-Production-and-Consumption---ResearchAndMarkets.com [ix] https://www.reuters.com/world/india/indias-textile-industry-faces-tough-times-consumers-cut-spending-2022-12-16/ [x] Indian Ministry of Trade and Industry Initiative: (accessed 16-02-2023) [xi] https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_863095.pdf [xii] Fair Wear Foundation (2019): India country study 2019 (PDF file) [xiii] Fair Wear Foundation (2019): India country study 2019 (PDF file) [xiv] Valan A, Akanksha Jumde & Nishant Kumar (2024) “Mutated Sumangali Scheme”: challenges in enforcement of labour laws in spinning mills of Tamil Nadu, Indian Law Review, 8:2, 170-184, https://doi.org/10.1080/24730580.2024.2353529. [xv] https://asia.floorwage.org/living-wage/calculating-a-living-wage/ and https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230113005327/en/India-Textile-and-Clothing-Industry-Prospects-Report-2022-Developments-Size-and-Structure-Textile-and-Clothing-Production-and-Consumption---ResearchAndMarkets.com [xvi] https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/documents/publication/wcms_848624.pdf [xvii] Fair Wear Foundation (2019): India country study 2019 (PDF file) [xviii] Fair Wear Foundation (2019): India country study 2019 (PDF file) [xix] Fair Wear Foundation (2018): Breaking the silence: The FWF violence and harassment prevention program (PDF file) [xx] Fair Wear Foundation (2019): FWF Gender Factsheet – India (PDF file) [xxi] Fair Wear Foundation (2019): FWF Gender Factsheet – India (PDF file) [xxii] Society for Labor and Development (2018): Gender based violence in garment global production networks India [xxiii] Fair Wear Foundation (2018): Breaking the silence: The FWF violence and harassment prevention program (PDF file) [xxiv] Fair Wear Foundation (2019): India country study 2019 (PDF file) [xxv] https://educationforallinindia.com/do-we-have-or-not-have-child-labour-in-india-2022/#:~:text=A%20glance%20at%20the%20percentage,main%20and%20the%20marginal%20workers [xxvi] US Department of Labor (2018): 2018 Findings on the worst forms of child labor (PDF file) [xxvii] Fair Wear Foundation (2019): India country study 2019 (PDF file) [xxviii] Valan A, Akanksha Jumde & Nishant Kumar (2024) “Mutated Sumangali Scheme”: challenges in enforcement of labour laws in spinning mills of Tamil Nadu, Indian Law Review, 8:2, 170-184, https://doi.org/10.1080/24730580.2024.2353529. i took all the monthly totals and both unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled salary and did the mean [FI1] This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. let me know if it's okay or if I should base it only on some categories of workers [FI2] Thank you! Mean sounds good. Could you also include the INR mean as well? [LT3] i changed the monthly pay based on above pay based on above. the latest living wage according to asia floor wage is still the one of 2022 so it's correct although it converts into less euros now. for the gender pay gap there is no document more recent than the one cited [FI6] i cannot seem to find the statutory minimum wage set by the central gov. which needs to be changed [FI7] back