Bhiwandi’s powerloom industry, once central to Maharashtra’s textile economy, is collapsing under steep electricity tariffs, debt, and policy neglect.
Opposition leaders allege misallocation of development funds, leaving the city underdeveloped despite its major contribution to Maharashtra’s GSDP and employment.
PMAY housing projects show partial progress, but thousands of families still await sanctioned homes, deepening the city’s development gaps.
Once called the “Manchester of India,” Bhiwandi’s powerlooms have clothed generations and sustained the textile economy of Maharashtra. Situated on the outskirts of Mumbai in Thane district, the town grew rapidly in the 1970s and 1980s when thousands of small, family-run powerloom units flourished, employing lakhs of migrant workers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and other parts of India. For decades, Bhiwandi’s looms churned out cloth that supplied not just domestic markets but also export houses in Mumbai and beyond.
But today, the hum of those looms is growing fainter. The city, once synonymous with industrial self-reliance, is now staring at a prolonged crisis. Local leaders warn that Bhiwandi’s economy, so deeply entwined with its powerloom industry, is on the verge of collapse. The immediate trigger: a steep hike in electricity tariffs that has pushed thousands of weavers into debt and forced many units to shut down. For an industry already weakened by competition from Surat, imported fabrics, and uneven government support, the power crisis could prove fatal.
“Powerloom industry in Bhiwandi is on the verge of collapse due to the steep hike in electricity bills. I have written to the chief minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis, demanding immediate rollback and reinstatement of subsidized rates. Our weavers deserve justice, not shutdowns,” said Rais Shaikh, MLA from Bhiwandi (East), Samajwadi Party.
Adding to the woes is the issue of uneven fund allocation. Opposition leaders allege that special development funds intended for upgrading basic amenities, roads, drainage, healthcare facilities, are often diverted to MLAs and corporators aligned with ruling parties, bypassing Bhiwandi’s urgent needs. This chronic neglect has left the town with poor infrastructure despite its outsized contribution to the state’s industrial output.
Maharashtra’s textile and apparel sector contributes nearly 12 percent to the state’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) and provides direct employment to over a million workers. A significant share of this comes from Bhiwandi’s powerloom cluster, which is one of the largest in Asia. Yet, the town itself remains underdeveloped, caught in a cycle of poverty and neglect that contrasts sharply with the wealth it generates.
“Ideally, underdeveloped areas like Bhiwandi should receive more funding, but opposition leaders are not releasing any. The special funds intended for area development and basic amenities go to MLAs and corporators from the ruling parties,” Shaikh said.
Housing data reveals another side of the imbalance. Under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), 10,656 houses have been sanctioned for Bhiwandi, all grounded for construction, with 8,383 already completed, data with the Lok Sabha showed. However, more than 2,300 houses remain unsanctioned, leaving thousands of families waiting for secure shelter. For a city where workers often live in cramped, dilapidated chawls near their looms, the delays in housing projects underscore the widening gap between promise and reality.
This is not the first time Bhiwandi has faced decline. In the early 2000s, as globalisation brought cheaper imports and Surat’s textile industry modernised faster, Bhiwandi’s traditional power looms began losing ground. Fires in warehouses, communal tensions, and crumbling civic infrastructure further dimmed its prospects. What sustained it was the resilience of its weavers, who worked long hours on low margins, keeping the looms alive.
Today, however, the convergence of high electricity costs, lack of targeted relief, and chronic underinvestment threatens to undo even that resilience. “We are paying more for power than what we earn from cloth,” one local loom owner lamented recently, capturing the desperation of many.
As Bhiwandi struggles with rising inequality and neglect, experts warn of a long-term developmental setback unless urgent interventions are made. That would mean not only rationalising electricity tariffs for weavers but also ensuring transparent and equitable use of urban development funds. Without such steps, the city’s identity as an industrial backbone and employment generator for Maharashtra could soon become history.
For now, Bhiwandi remains a paradox: a city that powers Maharashtra’s economy but lives in the shadows of underdevelopment, its looms humming weaker each day.