CHAPTER 2: BACKGROUND STUDY 2.1 SILK INDUSTRY IN INDIA: India is the second largest silk producer of raw silk and also has the distinction of being the world’s largest consumer of pure silk.
India is the only country in the world to produce all the four known varieties of silk including mulberry, eri, tasar and muga. Mulberry is the largest practiced sericulture industry accounting for almost 76 percentage of the entire silk production.
The traditional passion for silk-based products with amazing forms of silk garments endeared at home helps the country to fabricate challenging position in silk industry, as second largest producer of silk and also the largest consumer of silk.
Silk not only is a source of foreign exchange earnings, but also provides employment to 6 million people (mainly hailing from weaker sections of society) in 60,000 villages. It therefore, provides a sustainable boost to rural youth and women to receive handsome remunerative returns mostly as a form of alternative agricultural practice.
Silk industry is further divided into two types based on the labor force and the scale of the organization. The traditional type and modern type. 15
