Behind the Seams: Reimagining Women’s Work in the Textile Sector’s Green Transition

Standing next to a jet dyeing machine, Divya deftly pulls out 6,000 meters of dyed fabric with ease. She works at a bustling printing and dyeing unit in Surat — a city she calls home, since her move from Odisha over two decades ago. Three years ago, driven by financial need, she persuaded her husband to let her work in the textile factory.

Divya’s story mirrors the experience of many women in the city. A key player in India’s textile sector, Surat produces nearly 40% of the country’s synthetic fabric. With over 400 dyeing and printing enterprises spread across clusters like Pandesara, Sachin, Kadodara and Palsana, the city is a vital textile processing hub. Women like Divya are essential to the workforce that drives these enterprises.

While the number of women joining the sector is increasing, their roles often remain confined to low-wage, non-technical positions that offer little room for growth. Despite their critical contributions, many women find themselves stuck at the bottom rung of the processing chain, with few opportunities to break into higher-paying, skilled positions.

Role of Women in Textile Manufacturing

Women are typically assigned ancillary tasks, such as moving fabric between machines, loading and unloading materials, assisting with basic chemical processes, and handling fabric reams through stitching, folding and packing. While these tasks are crucial to daily operations, they are classified as non-technical. Most of these roles also lack formal contracts or job security.

In contrast, better-paying roles such as machine operators, digital print assistants, quality checkers and supervisors are rarely held by women. These positions require technical training and promise long-term career advancement.

A common hiring practice in many manufacturing and industrial clusters is ‘jodi’ or couple hiring. Women are recruited as helpers alongside their husbands, who are primarily employed in production roles. While this practice may appear to support women’s workforce participation by lowering entry barriers for married women, it inadvertently reinforces patriarchal labor norms, excludes single women and offers little scope for career progression. Since married women also carry the burden of caregiving, they often opt for shorter or more flexible work shifts than men.

Hiring biases also restrict women’s access to skilled and technical roles. Many male supervisors prefer hiring men for skilled roles, citing a perceived ability to work longer hours, easier communication and fewer "social complications." These perceptions reflect and reinforce existing gender hierarchies, discourage women’s advancement, and undervalue their contributions.

Women workers are eager to break free from these traditional roles in the workplace and aspire toward greater responsibility and better pay. “I can learn,” says Rinki, a 23-year-old worker from Uttar Pradesh. “I even handled the jet dyeing machine when the operator was on leave. But once men return, we are told to go back to helping.” This reflects a broader pattern where women step up when needed, but systemic norms push them back into subordinate roles. While many MSME owners acknowledge the untapped potential of women workers, they note a persistent gap, “women hesitate and lack the confidence to ask for more responsibility.”

Cleaner Production, Inclusive Workplaces

India’s textile sector is under growing pressure to reduce its environmental impact. Dyeing and printing account for more than half of the emissions in textile manufacturing. The push towards sustainability in textile production is largely driven by global brands, which expect their suppliers to comply with environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards. 

The transition to sustainable manufacturing is not just about moving to cleaner sources of energy, improving material efficiency and reducing use of coal in product manufacturing — it offers opportunities to build more inclusive workplaces by encouraging women to enter technical and supervisory roles.

Some global brands are already nudging suppliers to improve gender diversity as part of broader ESG commitments, which include skilling and reskilling programs to integrate more women into technical roles. But the momentum is uneven. 

While export-oriented enterprises are increasingly responding to sustainability demands, many processing MSMEs in Surat primarily serve the domestic markets that prioritize low production costs. These firms have less incentive to invest in cleaner production practices or workforce diversity. In the absence of strong market signals or regulatory enforcement, both environmental sustainability and gender diversity often take a backseat.

Bridging the Gap: Training, Policy and Participation

In 2017, the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, launched the Scheme for Capacity Building in the Textile Sector (SAMARTH) for soft skills and technical training. In Surat, 22 training centers and seven implementing partners have trained over 3,700 workers, of which 85% are women. While most women are trained in garmenting, less than 0.5% receive training in textile processing, indicating untapped potential.

While awareness about newer opportunities, flexible training and mentorship can encourage women to train for new roles, additional interventions are needed to improve their access to these roles. Manufacturing units must challenge hiring biases, sensitize supervisors and managers, and redesign promotion practices to create an inclusive and equitable textile sector. Without institutional and cultural shifts at the workplace, skilling efforts may fall short of delivering long-term transformation.

The future of India’s textile industry rests not only on adopting sustainable and low-carbon practices but also on how it recognizes evolving skilling demands. By addressing existing barriers and fostering inclusive workplace practices, the textile sector can achieve a just transition that benefits all stakeholders.