Sick Cotton Textile Mills—Is Government Take-Over a Solution?

Of the 564 cotton textile mills in India today, 40 are closed and 13 of these are fit to be scrapped; 200 other mills are on the brink of financial disaster. Why is the cotton textile industry, which is one of the oldest established industries in the country, in such straits? Is it inefficient and dishonest management or cost and financial factors outside the control of managements that are responsible for the condition of the mills? A correspondent, a close student of the textile industry, here attempts to answer these questions.