Bindu Oberoi /Arthaniti 11 (1-2) / 2012 /25 Structural Change, Technology and Employment in the Indian Textile Industry :1980-2010 * Bindu Oberoi ** Indraprastha College for Women Delhi University, Delhi E-mail : bindu_oberoi@hotmail.com Submitted : 21.04.14; Accepted : 17.09.14 Abstract: The textile industry in India experienced a recession from the mid-1960s to the 1980s when the demand for textile products almost stagnated. However, a significant increase in the per capita consumption of textiles along with a substantial increase in exports of textiles reversed this trend after the early 1990s. It was expected that the growth of output and exports of the industry would lead to an increase in employment in its more labour intensive segments. However, the experience of the economy since the 1990s suggests that there was hardly any growth in the number of workers employed by the Indian textile industry. This paper analyses the reasons for the unsatisfactory performance of the Indian Textile Industry on the employment front. The paper argues that changes in the structure of the textile industry and technology use since the 1990s have adversely affected the level of employment in this industry. Keywords: Usual status employment, inter-sectoral shifts, spinning mills, composite mills, real gross value added, technological modernisation, productivity. 1. Introduction One of the most striking characteristics of growth of India’s economy during the post-liberalisation period has been its inability to generate adequate employment. The fast growth of the economy during the period was associated with falling employment elasticity of production and growing unemployment. At the all-India level, usual status employment elasticity significantly declined from 0.42 during 1983 to 1993-94 to 0.15 during 1993-94 to 1999-00 (Bhattacharya & Sakthievel, 2004). Weekly status and Daily status employment also showed * This paper was presented at the national conference on Labour and Employment organised by Indira Gandhi Institute of Development and Research, Mumbai during September 5-6, 2013 while celebrating its silver jubilee year during 2012-2013. ** The author would like to thank Professor C. P. Chandrasekhar for supervising the thesis on which this paper is based