The Calico Mills, officially Ahmedabad Manufacturing and Calico Printing Mills Ltd and M/S ILAC Ltd, was one of the earliest

textile mills Textile manufacturing or textile engineering is a major industry. It is largely based on the conversion of fibre into yarn, then yarn into fabric. These are then dyed or printed, fabricated into cloth which is then converted into useful good ...

established in

Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...

, India, by the Sarabhai family. Established in 1888, it closed in 1998. The land, plant and machinery were sold in a public auction in 2010s.

History

The Calico Mills was one of earliest textile mills in Ahmedabad, established in 1888 by Sheth Karamchand Premchand, the ancestor of Sarabhai family. The mills were spread over an area of on the bank of Sabarmati river. The mills flourished under

Ambalal Sarabhai Ambalal Sarabhai (23 February 1890 – 13 July 1967) was an Indian industrialist, philanthropist, institution builder, and a supporter of Mahatma Gandhi. He was born in a Śvetāmbara Jain and Shrimal Jain, Shrimali family. He served as the cha ...

. It was later managed by Ambalal's son his nephew. The mills were started showing downturn with time due to lack of upgrade, changing fashions, tax and debt collections and mismanagement. In 1982, 12,400 workers were laid off from the weaving department due to financial issues. Later 55 out of 64 mill units were in financial trouble. Eventually about 1,00,000 workers were laid off. After several attempts at revival, the Board for Industrial and Financial Restructuring (BIFR), a government body, recommended closure of the mills in 1995. The recommendation was opposed by the mills management but their appeal was rejected in 1997. It was closed in 1998. The land, plant and machinery were sold in a public auction in 2010s. It was sold in seven lots of auction and fetched about . The land parcel was unsold in 2010s.

Products

For half a century, the Calico Mills became one of the most modern and extensively diversified pacesetters of the Indian cotton industry. Calico was the first Indian mill to give shareholders cloth at concessional rates. It was the first Indian textile mill to make cotton sewing thread, and later 100% synthetic sewing thread. Calico main textile unit was the only textile plant in Ahmedabad to be fuelled by natural gas, with virtually no smoke and no air pollution. To minimize water pollution, Calico had its own primary effluent processing plant, which ensured that no waste was thrown directly into municipal sewers. Calico erected India’s first Diamond Mesh Mosquito Netting plant in 1937, another first in India. In 1947, it diversified into chemicals, the manufacture of Caustic Soda, Chlorine and related products. Calico also erected India’s first PVC plant. In 1974, Calico commissioned its Polyester Fibre Plant in collaboration with ICI, (UK), producing four exclusive grades of Polyester Fibres, besides three superior conventional grades.

References

{{coord, display=title Cotton mills in India Textile mills in India Economy of Ahmedabad Defunct textile companies of India 1880s in British India Textile industry in Gujarat Cotton industry in India Indian companies established in 1888 Indian companies disestablished in 1998

History

Products

See also

References