Textile Production Calculator
Coimbatore Textile Production Calculator
What Coimbatore Produces
Coimbatore is India's textile heartland, producing over 40% of the country's cotton yarn and 80% of textile machinery. This calculator shows how your production needs compare to Coimbatore's massive output.
Fun Fact: One single day of Coimbatore's yarn production could make enough fabric for 8.75 million shirts (100s count).
Your Production Requirements
Ask anyone who knows textiles in India, and they’ll tell you one name: Coimbatore. But why? What makes this city in Tamil Nadu the undisputed heart of India’s textile industry? It’s not just about factories or looms-it’s about history, skill, and scale that no other city matches.
Coimbatore: The Unofficial Textile Capital of India
Coimbatore isn’t just a city with textile mills. It’s a living ecosystem built around cotton, yarn, and fabric. Over 20,000 textile units operate here-from tiny family-run looms to massive spinning plants. More than 80% of India’s air-conditioned textile machinery is sourced from this region. The city produces over 40% of the country’s cotton yarn and supplies nearly 60% of the nation’s domestic textile machinery.
Walk through any neighborhood in Coimbatore, and you’ll hear the rhythmic clatter of looms. In the early morning, trucks loaded with bales of cotton roll out toward spinning units. By noon, reels of yarn are being shipped to weavers across South India. By evening, finished fabrics head to markets in Delhi, Mumbai, and even overseas. This isn’t just industry-it’s a daily rhythm that’s been ticking for over a century.
How It All Started
The story begins in the late 1800s. British colonists set up cotton plantations in the surrounding areas because the climate was perfect-cool nights, moderate rainfall, and rich red soil. Local entrepreneurs saw the potential. They started small spinning mills using water wheels powered by rivers like the Noyyal. By the 1920s, Coimbatore had more than 50 textile mills, making it one of the first industrial hubs in South India.
After independence, the government encouraged local ownership. Families who once worked as laborers became mill owners. Sons took over their fathers’ businesses. Today, many of the biggest textile companies in India-like Arvind Limited and KPR Mill-are still family-run, with roots tracing back to Coimbatore in the 1940s.
Why Not Surat or Ahmedabad?
People often ask: What about Surat? It’s famous for synthetic fabrics and diamond polishing. Ahmedabad? It’s the historic home of the textile industry in Gujarat. But here’s the difference.
Surat focuses on polyester and blended fabrics, mostly for export. Ahmedabad has strong legacy brands, but its growth has slowed. Coimbatore? It does both. It handles natural fibers like cotton and silk, produces high-quality yarn, and builds the machines that spin and weave them. It’s the only place in India where you can get raw cotton, turn it into yarn, weave it into fabric, and install the loom that did it-all within a 50-kilometer radius.
Coimbatore also has the highest concentration of textile engineers and technicians in the country. Nearly every engineering college in Tamil Nadu has a textile specialization. These graduates don’t move to Bangalore or Hyderabad-they stay local. They fix machines, design new looms, and train workers. That kind of talent doesn’t exist anywhere else at this scale.
The Machinery Hub
Here’s something most outsiders don’t know: Coimbatore doesn’t just make fabric. It makes the machines that make fabric. Over 70% of India’s textile machinery is manufactured here. Companies like SLM, RSB, and Mysore Silk Mills design and build spinning frames, warping machines, and shuttle looms that are exported to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and even Egypt.
These aren’t fancy robots. They’re rugged, repairable, and built for India’s conditions-high heat, dust, and long hours. A typical Coimbatore-made loom can run 18 hours a day for five years without a major breakdown. That’s why factories across Asia trust them.
There are over 1,200 machinery manufacturers in the city. Many operate out of small workshops with just five workers. But their products are used in factories that produce millions of meters of cloth every month.
What Makes It Different Today
Coimbatore didn’t survive by resting on its past. It adapted. In the 2000s, when China dominated global textile exports, many predicted India’s industry would collapse. Instead, Coimbatore doubled down on quality and customization.
Today, the city is known for high-count cotton yarns-80s, 100s, even 120s. These are the fine threads used in premium shirts, bed linens, and luxury towels. Big brands like Armani, Marks & Spencer, and IKEA source their cotton fabrics from Coimbatore because the quality is consistent, and the lead times are faster than from Southeast Asia.
The city also leads in sustainable practices. Over 40 textile units now use solar power. Many have installed wastewater treatment plants that recycle 90% of their water. Coimbatore’s textile associations work closely with the government to get subsidies for green tech. It’s not perfect-but it’s moving faster than most other textile hubs in the world.
Life in the Textile City
Life here revolves around fabric. Schools close early so kids can help at home looms. Weddings often include fabric as part of the dowry. Local markets sell spools of yarn like groceries. You’ll see grandmothers spinning cotton on hand charkhas while teenagers check machine RPMs on tablets.
There’s no single textile district. The industry is woven into every street. In Pollachi Road, you’ll find yarn wholesalers. In Mettupalayam, it’s machine spare parts. In Ukkadam, it’s dyeing units. Each area has its specialty, and they all connect like a giant, invisible network.
Even the food here reflects the industry. Lunch stalls serve “textile thali”-a cheap, filling meal of rice, dal, and curd-because workers need energy for long shifts. The city’s nickname? “Manchester of the East.” Locals just call it “Textile City.”
Challenges and the Road Ahead
It’s not all smooth. Water shortages hit hard during summer. Power cuts still happen. Younger generations are hesitant to join the family business-they want IT jobs or government posts. Competition from Bangladesh and Vietnam is growing.
But Coimbatore’s strength lies in its resilience. When the pandemic hit, factories switched to making masks. When global shipping slowed, they started exporting directly to Europe via air freight. When labor costs rose, they automated just enough-without losing the human touch that keeps quality high.
What’s next? Smart looms with AI monitoring. Blockchain-tracked cotton supply chains. Export partnerships with African markets. Coimbatore isn’t waiting for the future. It’s building it, one thread at a time.
Final Answer: Coimbatore Is the City of Textile
There’s no official title. No government decree says “Coimbatore = City of Textile.” But if you ask a textile buyer, a machine technician, or a cotton farmer-they’ll all say the same thing. This is the place. The only place. Where every part of textile production comes together. Where tradition meets technology. Where a single city powers a nation’s wardrobe.
So when someone asks, “Which city is called the city of textile?”-the answer isn’t a guess. It’s a fact written in thread, yarn, and fabric across thousands of factories, homes, and streets.
Why is Coimbatore called the textile city of India?
Coimbatore is called the textile city of India because it produces over 40% of the country’s cotton yarn, manufactures nearly 80% of India’s textile machinery, and hosts more than 20,000 textile units. It’s the only place where cotton is spun, woven, dyed, and machined all in one region, with a workforce and infrastructure built over 100 years.
Is Coimbatore the only textile city in India?
No, but it’s the most complete. Surat makes synthetic fabrics, Ahmedabad has historic mills, and Tirupur exports knitwear. But only Coimbatore handles everything-from raw cotton to finished fabric to the machines that make it. No other city has this full supply chain under one roof.
What is the main textile product of Coimbatore?
Coimbatore’s main product is high-count cotton yarn-especially 80s, 100s, and 120s count yarn used in premium shirts, bed sheets, and towels. It also produces woven fabrics like poplin, chambray, and twill, along with textile machinery like spinning frames and shuttle looms.
Which country is famous for textile manufacturing?
China is the largest textile producer globally, but India is the second-largest and the top exporter of cotton textiles. Within India, Coimbatore is the most important hub, especially for natural fiber production and machinery.
Is Coimbatore’s textile industry sustainable?
Yes, increasingly so. Over 40 textile units in Coimbatore now use solar power. Many have installed closed-loop water systems that recycle 90% of wastewater. The industry is also shifting to organic cotton and reducing chemical dyes, supported by government incentives for green manufacturing.
