The first organized industry to be started in the district was the cotton textile mill which was established in 1877. The subsequent period of 20 to 25 years was marked by the establishment of a large number of cotton textile mills in Solapur and Barshi which are the most important textile centers in the district even today. It is note worthy that all the factories in the district are owned by persons from outside the district.

                   The year 1860 marked the laying of a railway line which facilitated the establishment of cotton textile mill at Solapur. While the new railway line provided a convenient means of transport, the Ekruk tank made available sufficient water-supply to cotton crop. It resulted in an increase in the area under cotton cultivation. The production of cotton in 1964-65 was 0.12 lakh bales whereas the irrigated area under cotton was 8,993 acres during the same year.

The old Gazetteer of Solapur district published in 1884, has furnished a vivid account regarding the steam factories in the district which is summarized below:—

Besides hand-spinning and weaving, a steam-spinning and weaving mill, the property of the Solapur Spinning and Weaving Company Limited, began working at Solapur in March 1877. This company had a nominal capital of Rs. 8 lakhs in 1884, an actual capital of Rs. 6,78,500, and was managed by Messrs. Morarji Gokuldas and Company of Bombay. The machinery, driven by two engines, each of forty horse-power, worked 20,888 spindles and 175 looms and employed 850 hands at a monthly wage expenditure of about Rs. 7,700. About half of the staff was paid fixed wages and the rest were paid by piece-work. Of the hands who are paid by the piece, weaver was paid Rs. 8-20 and frame tenders Rs. 8-12. Of the persons who were paid fixed wages, the men earned Rs. 6-12 while the women about Rs. 5, and the boys Rs. 4-9 a month. The total amount paid as wages m 1883-84 was Rs. 86,200. The workers worked sun-rise to sun-set, half an hour being allowed for rest. Two or three holidays were given in the month. Of 17,58,000 pounds or 784 tons of cotton, the average yearly consumption in the mill, about two-thirds came from Barsi and one-third was bought in the local market. The daily out-turn of yarn was 5,500 to 6,000 pounds. Most of the out-turn was used locally, bought by local dealers, distributed over the chief market towns, and used by handloom weavers. A portion was worked into cloth, the chief kind being long-cloth and occasionally sheets, dangri, sail-cloth and towels. Besides being used in Solapur, the cloth went to Barsi, Bijapur, and the Nizam's territory. In addition to the weaving mill at Solapur, there were at Barsi two steam press houses, one was started in 1866 and another in 1876.

In 1903, there were three cotton mills in Solapur town, which employed 4,930 persons. The number of cotton mills at Solapur increased to 5 in 1911 which absorbed 9,439 operatives. There were 1,08,408 spindles and 500 looms in these cotton mills in 1903, which had a paid-up capital of Rs. 29,98,000. The year 1911 witnessed an increase in spindles and looms in these mills to 2,22,724 and 2,890, respectively. The paid-up capital also similarly increased to Rs. 65,78,150.

In 1921, there were six cotton mills at Solapur town and one cotton mill at Barshi town. The mills at Solapur had 17,132 operatives and that at Barshi town employed 1,223 operatives during the same year. In 1921, there were 2,44,868 spindles and 4,479 looms in all the cotton mills in the district.

Some of the observations regarding employment and production in the textile industry at Solapur taken from the study of the industry undertaken by Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics in 1938-39 are given below. These observations give the clear picture of the size of employment and also of size of production of the textile mills prevalent during that period: —

" In 107 units of work 1,648 persons were covered by our survey. Amongst, them, 125 belonged to the managerial staff. The remaining 1,523 persons were engaged in work involving manual labour of skilled or unskilled type. Out of them; 848 were skilled and 675 unskilled. Generally speaking, adult males were found in the skilled type of work, viz., weaving and females and children in unskilled work. Of the 1,648 persons, 109 persons of the managerial staff, 89 from the skived and 203 from the unskilled workers belonged to the Karkhandars' families. The remaining 1,247 were employed on a remuneration basis. All the above figures bring out clearly the relative position and importance of each class of workers.

In the 107 weaving establishments, selected in our sample, there were 848 weavers in all. Out of them, only nine weavers were producing men's garments. On classifying them it was found that only one was engaged in producing turbans, one in producing dhoties and uparnis and the remaining seven in producing shirting. Thus the production of men's garments in Solapur was quite negligible as compared to that of women's. Out of 339 weavers producing women's garments, only one was producing khans or bodice pieces and 832 coloured sarees with silk or cotton borders. Solapur specialises in producing sarees. The average annual out-turn of sarees per loom was about 239, while the average annual production in value per loom amounted to Rs. 503 28.

Only two sections of Factories Act—one relating to the hours of work and the other concerning a weekly holiday had been made applicable in Solapur in 1940. A big hue and cry was raised in the beginning by local Karkhandars against this. Every Wednesday was observed as holiday, not only in factories, but also in small workshops. Night shifts were no longer witnessed in factories.". In 1946, the number of looms and spindles installed in these units amounted to 3,01,438 and 7,000 respectively and the average number of persons employed in these units was 21,629.

As per the 1951 Census cotton textile industry provided employment to 40,922 workers (37,529 males, 3,393 females). Of the total workers employed in cotton textiles, 37,375 (including 3,083 females) or 71 per cent were in urban areas. The 1961 Census recorded the number of persons employed in cotton textiles at 61,727 (46,553 males and 15,174 females). Of these, 31,465 males and 3,672 females worked in non-household sector, and remaining worked in house-hold industries.

As per the 1961 Census, there were 100 cotton mills in the district, of which 98 submitted returns. The total number of man-days worked during the same year in those mills was 71,16,720 and the average daily employment was 24,895. In 1964, the number of factories engaged in spinning, weaving and finishing of cotton textiles was 127 which submitted returns. The number of man-days worked during the year 1964 in these working factories was 56,60,671 and the average daily number of workers employed was 18,620.

There were eight large-scale cotton textile units and 100 small cotton textile mills registered under the Factories Act of 1948 by the end of 1962. The eight large units employed 19,651 workers and the small units employed 1,818 workers. Out of these eight mills, two were composite units, four weaving units and the remaining two spinning units. Five mills were located at Solapur, two at Barshi and one at Tikekarwadi, a place about five miles from Solapur city. These units consume about one lakh bales of cotton every year.

In 1965, there were 129 factories undertaking spinning, weaving and finishing of cotton textiles which employed 18,268 persons.

The production of mill-made yarn in the district amounted to 28 lakh, kilograms and to 20 lakh kilograms during the years 1963-64 and 1964-65, respectively. The manufacture of mill cloth (cotton) was to the tune of 1139 lakh metres in 1963-64 and 1039 lakh metres in 1964-65. The district ranks fourth in the State as regards the manufacture of cotton yarn and cloth.

The following statement gives statistics of textile factories in the district as per the Annual Survey of Industries, 1966:—

In 1971, there were 128 registered factories undertaking spinning, weaving and finishing of textiles in the district which submitted returns. These units employed 13,576 persons. The total number of man-days worked by these factories during the same year amounted to 42,57,258.

The 1971 Census records 263 registered units undertaking manufacturing cotton textiles, and employed 29,441 persons. Of the total registered textile units, 233 are located in urban areas and absorbed 27,849 persons.

At present, there are three large-scale composite textile mills situated in Solapur city. There are also five cotton yarn spinning mills in the district, of which two are in the co-operative sector, and three in Barshi town. All these mills together provide employment to about 15,000 people.

The existence of a number of mills led to the development of Solapur into a very big yarn market. The market gets its supplies from two sources. Of these, the most important source constitutes the local spinning and weaving mills. The Vishnu Cotton Mill and Laxmi Cotton Mill have their own guarantee brokers in Solapur. These brokers guarantee that a particular dealer is solvent up to a particular limit and the mills might deal with him to that extent. The brokers charge some rate for underwriting of risk and are required to deposit a fixed sum as security with the mill concerned, on which the mill pays interest at a rate higher than the local bank rate of interest. The group consisting of Solapur Mills, the Raja Narsingji Mill and the Jam Mill which have no guarantee brokers, deal with their customers directly. The guarantee brokers and other eminent yarn merchants in Solapur have their accounts with the local mills. The other source of supply to local market consists of the import of yarn from outside. The imports comprise yarn of coarse, medium and high counts. Yarn of coarse and medium counts is brought at Solapur from Barshi, Madura, and sometimes from Gokak and Coimbtore Mills. The goods are imported by rail and wherever convenient by motor trucks.

The brief history of some of the textile mills is furnished below:—

(1) Solapur Spinning and Weaving Co. Ltd., Solapur.—The mill was established in 1877 with a capital investment of rupees eight lakhs and employed 350 labourers during the year of establishment. At present, the mill works in two shifts employing more than six thousand workers. As per the 1961 Census, of the 2,234 looms and 95,232 spindles installed, 1,772 looms and 82,652 spindles were working. At the time the mill was started the female workers in the waterwheel section were paid about Rs. 5 to Rs. 9 per month, and the weavers were paid Rs 8 to Rs. 20 per month, whereas the monthly wages of an average male worker were. Rs. 6 to Rs.,12, of a female worker Rs. 5 and of a child Rs. 4. The wage position in May 1914, May 1921, and August 1923 in cotton mills was as follows. The average monthly earnings per head in cotton mills in Solapur are given below [P. A. Wadia and K. T. Merchant, Our Economic Problems, 1957, p. 541.]:—

(2) Narsingji Girji Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Solapur.—The mill is one of the oldest, and was once one of the biggest mills in the whole of Asia. The mill was established in 1898. Upto the year 1905 the mill undertook the production of cotton yarn, while in 1906, a number of spindles and looms were installed in the mill. The mill was closed down in 1957 due to loss and about 4,500 laborers lost their jobs. The Government therefore intervened in the management of the mill and administered it with the co-operation of workers. In 1961, there were 1,170 looms and 55,488 spindles, of which 1,166 looms and 55,272 spindles were working and more than 4,500 workers were employed in this mill.

The Government has invested about Rs. 70 lakhs in the management of the mill. Under the management of the Government the concern earns a sizeable amount of profit which is shared with the workers in the form of bonus.

(3) Laxmi Cotton Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Solapur.—This is the only textile unit manufacturing cloth of fine texture and is the biggest of three composite units in the district. Established in 1898, the mill was under the managing agency system since 1901. As per the 1961 Census there were 1,219 looms and 56,272 spindles and over 4,200 workers were employed in this mill Among the three composite mills, Laxmi-Vishnu is the only mill undertaking modernisation of machinery and production with the help of medium-term finance from Maharashtra State Industrial and Investment Corporation. The mill is now equipped with ninety automatic looms.

(4) Vishnu Cotton Mill Ltd., Solapur.—The mill was established in 1908. In 1961, there were 1,495 looms and 54,280 spindles and over two thousand workers working in this mill.

(5) Shri Jam Ranjitsingji Mill, Solapur.—The mill was established in 1909. This is a composite unit. In 1961, it operated 512 looms and 22,132 spindles and employed more than 2,000 workers. The production of the mill was confined to cotton yarn till 1926.

(6) Lokmanya Mills Ltd., Barshi.—This spinning unit was established in 1928 when it had 11,840 spindles. During the year 1952-53, the number of spindles in the mill increased by 1,032. As per the 1961 Census there were 12,872 spindles in the mill and it employed more than 1,000 workers.

(7) Jayashankar Mills Ltd., Barshi.—Established in 1928, the mill had 14,520 spindles and employed about 800 workers. This is a spinning unit.

(8) Tikekar Textile Mills, Tikekarwadi.—This is a power-loom unit manufacturing cloth, cotton blankets and bed-sheets, and employed about 120 workers in 1961. This mill was purchased by the employees of the mill and is now managed on co-operative basis.

The Census of 1961 enumerates four more units in addition to those described above. They are Messrs. Rajan Textile Mills Private Ltd. licensed to produce cotton cloth; Messrs. Jan Shri Ratansingji Spinning and Weaving Mills Co. Ltd. and Messrs. Jayashankar Mills— both licensed to produce cotton yarn and Messrs. Laxmi Cotton Manufacturing Co. Ltd. licensed to manufacture cloth from staple fibre yarn.

Table No. 7 gives the detailed statistics [The statistics is based on the Lead Bank Survey Report, Solapur District, 1971.] of the well-known big textile mills in the district by the end of 1971.

Dyeing: The dyeing industry has been in existence in Solapur for a long time as ancillary to the local handloom industry. Till recently yarn dyed only in Turkish red was imported from Bombay. Subsequently, however, dyeing in all colors and shades was being done locally. The progress made by the local dyeing industry during the past few decades has been remarkable. Formerly dyeing of yarn was done by the weavers as well as by professional dyers. Of the total of 1,000 Hindu Rangaris and Niralis, about 300 were at Solapur and 100 at Valsang. The dyers of Sholapur and Karmala had earned good reputation. The industry, however, was not so prosperous though calico printing was carried on to a large extent in Solapur. The chief dye-stuffs were safflower or kusumb, red ochre or kapila, cochineal or kirmaj dane, sandars wood or surangi, indigo or nil. Of these dyes, about 500 acres of sandars wood were yearly tilled in Barshi sub-division. The cost of tillage of plant was estimated at about 2s. 6d. (Rs. 1¼) the acre and the profit at 6s. (Rs. 3). About twenty tons of sandars wood was yearly grown at Barshi. Of this, about a ton was locally used and the rest was sent to Solapur, Pune and Ahmadnagar. The silk was dyed magenta and yellow with the help of cochineal and oil of karadai (safflower), respectively. Cloth was dyed red and blue. The red colour was produced by sandars wood or by safflower, and cloth was dyed blue with indigo.

In 1940 there were about sixty to seventy dyeing houses in the city employing over 250 workers. Annually they dyed about 5,00,000 boxes of yarn, consuming about 70,000 lb. of dye-stuffs and about 65,000 lb. of chemicals. For dyeing of rayon and silk yarn dye-stuffs manufactured in foreign countries, viz., Great Britain, U. S. A., Germany, France, Switzerland and Japan were used in the district.

In 1962, there were two small-scale factories undertaking dyeing of hand-loom yarn registered under the Factories Act, and employing 69 workers. At the end of 1970, there were about eighteen cotton and silk processing and dyeing factories registered as small-scale industries. The total fixed capital of these eighteen units was about Rs. 6,09,200. The total number of employees engaged in these units was 251 (141 workers, 110 others), and the value of annual productive capacity amounted to Rs. 27,42,443 approximately. Besides dyeing, these factories undertake doubling and twisting of cotton and silk yarn.

Dyeing in Solapur is done by using napthol, sulphur, indanthrene, direct colors and basic colors. The process of vat-dyeing by fermentation exists though on a very small scale. Almost all colors can be obtained by using any one of the above dye-stufts.

Napthol colours are used in Solapur for obtaining light, medium and full shades in all colours except green, black and blue. They are comparatively costly and more lasting. They are particularly used for obtaining different shades in chocolate, yellow, red, pink and orange colours. In Solapur, sulphur dye-stuffs are used for producing black, green and yellow shades. The charges for dyeing black colours are the lowest, and are therefore largely used in Sholapur. Almost all light shades are produced by indanthrene colours. Some shades are costlier in this series of colours. Direct colours are used for dyeing both cotton yarn and silk. All possible shades are obtained by these colours though the shades in direct colours look dull. Base colours are used for topping, i.e., for increasing the shining of the previous shade. In Solapur, there are not more than five or six dyeing houses where the process of vat-dyeing by fermentation is still practised. It is used for the dyeing of indigo blue. In this process unlike others naturally occurring substances are used for dyeing. The charges for dyeing as existed in 1940 are as given below.

The equipment of a small dyeing house comprises one or two dyeing vats, a number of wooden rods and bamboos. A well-built furnace facilitates the work of dyeing. All this equipment requires an initial expenditure of about Rs. 100. The dye-bath is prepared by the proprietor of a dyeing house, while the actual work of dyeing is left to one or two employees. In some cases clerks are also employed on part-time or full-time basis in addition to dyers.

The dyers are provided with hand and foot gloves to be worn at the time of work so that the dyeing solutions which contain acids should not harm their bare hands and feet.

Almost all the dye-stuffs are purchased locally. Some of the dyeing establishments, besides dyeing the yarn supplied to them by customers, deal in dyed or grey yarn.

The season of dyeing industry depends upon the season of hand-loom weaving industry as the production of the former is dependent upon the production of the latter.

The dyeing industry requires sufficient open space for dyeing yarn, and a large supply of water for dyeing and washing yarn. The dyeing establishment has to pay the water tax at double the ordinary rate.

At present cloth dyeing is practised extensively at Sholapur, Valsang and Karmala, while calico printing is carried on to a large extent in Sholapur, Barshi and Pandharpur.

Ginning and pressing: The ginning and pressing units have sprung up in the district at a few cotton marketing centres as some parts of the district are cotton-growing areas. Natepute in Malshiras taluka is the main ginning centre in the district. The existence of several ginning and pressing factories was recorded by the 1881 Census, the number of persons engaged in them being 20,301.

In 1903, there were six cotton ginning and pressing factories at Barshi town which absorbed 473 operatives. In 1911, the number was reduced to 5 with an employment of 360 workers. The year 1911 recorded the establishment of a ginning and pressing unit at Barshi Road, and one cotton ginning factory at Karmala, which employed 74 and 80 workers, respectively. In 1921, there were thirteen ginning and pressing factories at Barshi, three at Kurduwadi and five at Karmala which employed 633, 89 and 183 operatives, respectively. Prior to the establishment of these factories, cotton was cither ginned by the hand process or sent to the nearest centres for ginning.

There were six large-scale and twenty small-scale cotton ginning and pressing factories registered under the Factories Act, 1948, by the end of 1962. While the large-scale units employed 742 workers, the small-scale units employed 815 persons in the above-mentioned year.

The cotton ginning and pressing units are located at Pandharpur, Akluj, Kurduwadi, Sholapur, Natepute, Karmala and Mohol. In 1971, there were 22 registered gins and presses (submitting returns) employing 395 workers daily on an average and five registered units not submitting returns employing 230 workers daily on an average. The man-days worked by 22 units amounted to 84,450.

Of these, five cotton ginning and pressing factories were surveyed. These factories were seasonal in character and their working period stretched for 90 to 150 days between the months of October and April. Of these factories, one undertook manufacture of cement pipes and fertilisers in addition to ginning and pressing during the off-season.

The fixed capital investment of every unit was locked up in land and buildings, plants and machinery, and furniture and fixtures. The fixed capital of these five surveyed factories stood at Rs. 4,42,885 and working capital of two factories for which information was available amounted to Rs. 3,84,360. The working capital was required for the purchase of fuel, raw material, etc.

Machinery and equipment used by these factories is composed of steam or oil engines, boiler, roller, gins, cotton presses, electric motors, etc.

The fuel required by these units comprises different types of oils, charcoal, wood, and electricity and each unit on an average spent about Rs. 10,000 per annum upon the same. During the off-season the plant and machinery remain idle.

Cotton was the main raw material consumed by these factories. In 1965-66, the area under all kinds of fibres in the district was 11,131 hectares, of which an area of 8,219 hectares was under cotton, and the production of cotton amounted to 5,300 bales during the same year. Generally, these factories did not purchase the cotton they required but was sent to them by the local merchants for pressing. Cotton seed was sold in local markets and bales of cotton were marketed to Bombay, Miraj, Sangli, Akluj, Pandharpur, etc.

The quantity of bales exported to various centres differed according to the rates. The industry does not suffer from shortage of demand.

The process of separating of seed from raw cotton and pressing of cotton in bales is spread over two phases. During the season a unit separated cotton seed from 750 to 15,000 quintals of cotton.

Of the five factories surveyed, the number of workers employed varied from factory to factory and ranged between 25 and 60 workers. The total number of workers in the five factories was 185 (including skilled, unskilled and others). A skilled worker employed in the surveyed units was paid between Rs. 110 and Rs. 175 per month. A male worker was paid Rs. 2 to Rs. 7 per day while a female worker was paid Rs. 1.50 to Rs. 2 per day. The skilled worker was paid about Rs. 2.50 to Rs. 7 per day. A unit on an average disbursed about Rs. 10,000 by way of wages.

The annual turn-over of all the existing units is estimated at about Rs. 1.75 crores.