Which is the largest mill in India? Largest textile mill by capacity and workforce

When people ask about the largest mill in India, they’re usually thinking about scale-how many spindles, how many workers, how much cloth it churns out in a day. The answer isn’t just one building. It’s a sprawling complex that runs 24/7, employs tens of thousands, and feeds into India’s global textile supply chain. The largest textile mill in India is the Vardhman Textiles plant in Punjab, specifically the one in Bhikhiwind near Ludhiana.

This isn’t just a big factory. It’s a vertical powerhouse. Vardhman doesn’t just spin yarn or weave fabric. It does it all: from raw cotton to finished garments. The Bhikhiwind unit alone has over 1.2 million spindles and 60,000 looms. That’s more than the total number of looms in many small countries. The mill produces more than 100 million meters of fabric every year. To put that in perspective, that’s enough fabric to cover the entire state of Goa from end to end, twice over.

What makes this mill stand out isn’t just size. It’s integration. Most mills in India specialize. One spins, another weaves, a third dyes. Vardhman does everything under one roof. Cotton comes in from Gujarat and Maharashtra, gets cleaned, carded, spun into yarn, woven into cloth, dyed, printed, and stitched into ready-made garments-all in the same industrial zone. This cuts down shipping costs, reduces delays, and gives them control over quality at every stage.

The workforce is just as massive. Over 25,000 people work directly at the Bhikhiwind plant. Add contractors, transporters, and local suppliers, and the number climbs past 50,000. Many families have worked here for three generations. The mill has its own school, clinic, and housing colony. It’s not just a workplace-it’s a town. That kind of scale doesn’t happen by accident. It took decades of reinvestment, modernization, and steady growth since the company started in 1963.

Other mills come close, but none match this combination of capacity and vertical control. Grasim Industries’ textile unit in Nagpur is big, but it’s focused mostly on viscose staple fiber, not woven fabric. Arvind Limited’s plant in Ahmedabad is known for premium denim and exports, but it runs about half the number of looms. Raymond’s facility in Pune is one of the most advanced in terms of automation, but again, smaller in total output.

Why does this matter to India’s economy? Because textiles are the second-largest employer after agriculture. The sector contributes over 11% to India’s industrial output and 12% to exports. The largest mills like Vardhman are the backbone of that. They don’t just make clothes. They keep rural economies alive. A single large mill can support hundreds of small businesses-spare parts suppliers, packaging companies, trucking firms, even local dhabas that feed workers.

Modernization has been key. Vardhman replaced old European looms with Italian and Japanese machines in the 2010s. They installed solar panels across their rooftops to cut power costs. They use AI-driven quality control cameras that spot flaws in fabric at 500 meters per minute-something no human eye can do consistently. The result? Higher output, fewer rejects, and better margins.

Even with all this, the mill faces real challenges. Power outages still happen in Punjab during peak summer. Water scarcity is growing. The cost of cotton fluctuates wildly depending on monsoons and global prices. And competition from Bangladesh and Vietnam is fierce-they pay lower wages and have simpler logistics. Vardhman stays ahead by focusing on quality, not just quantity. They supply to global brands like H&M, Zara, and Marks & Spencer. These companies don’t just want cheap fabric. They want consistent quality, ethical sourcing, and traceability. Vardhman has invested in blockchain-based tracking systems to prove where every meter of fabric comes from.

If you visit the mill, you’ll see rows of machines humming in perfect sync. Workers in blue uniforms move between sections with practiced ease. The air smells faintly of cotton dust and oil. It’s loud. It’s hot. But it’s also efficient. You won’t find this kind of scale anywhere else in India. Not in Mumbai, not in Surat, not in Tiruppur. The Bhikhiwind plant is the undisputed giant.

What’s next? Vardhman is expanding into technical textiles-fabrics for medical use, automotive interiors, and geotextiles. These are higher-value products with less competition. They’re also building a new facility in Rajasthan to tap into solar power and reduce water usage. The goal isn’t just to stay the largest. It’s to stay relevant.

Why other mills don’t hold the title

Some might argue that the Tiruppur textile cluster in Tamil Nadu is bigger because it’s made up of thousands of small units. And yes, Tiruppur produces more garments than any single mill. But it’s a cluster, not a single entity. No one company controls it. Each unit is independent. Vardhman, on the other hand, is one company, one ownership, one management system. That’s what makes it the largest mill-not the largest cluster.

Similarly, the Reliance Industries plant in Nagothane, Maharashtra, is huge. But it’s primarily a polyester fiber plant, not a traditional textile mill. It doesn’t weave cotton fabric. It makes synthetic fibers that other mills use. So while it’s massive in output, it doesn’t qualify as a textile mill in the traditional sense.

And then there’s the old myth about Bombay’s textile mills. The famous Spencer Mills or Bombay Dyeing? Those were giants in the 1970s. But most shut down in the 1980s and 1990s due to labor strikes, outdated tech, and rising costs. Today, those buildings are shopping malls or housing projects. The industry moved east and north-to Punjab, Gujarat, and Haryana-where land is cheaper, power is more reliable, and government support is stronger.

How the largest mill impacts local communities

Living near the Vardhman mill means steady income. Wages here are 30% higher than the state average for unskilled labor. Many workers send money back to villages in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The mill runs a scholarship program for children of employees. Over 1,200 students have graduated from college thanks to this. It’s not charity. It’s long-term planning. Skilled workers are harder to find than unskilled ones. By investing in education, Vardhman ensures a pipeline of future supervisors, technicians, and engineers.

The local economy thrives because of this. There are 87 small shops within a 2-km radius of the mill gate selling everything from lunch boxes to phone chargers. Three banks have branches just for mill workers. A bus service runs every 15 minutes from nearby towns. The mill doesn’t just create jobs-it creates ecosystems.

What the future holds for India’s largest textile mill

India’s textile industry is expected to hit $300 billion in exports by 2030. To get there, we need more mills like Vardhman-not just bigger ones. The future belongs to mills that combine scale with smart tech. Automation, renewable energy, and digital traceability are no longer optional. They’re survival tools.

Vardhman is already testing robots that load and unload yarn bobbins. They’re piloting water recycling systems that cut usage by 60%. And they’re working with the Indian government on a new policy to classify large textile units as ‘strategic infrastructure’-which would give them priority for power and water allocation.

For now, the Bhikhiwind mill remains the largest. But its real legacy won’t be its size. It’ll be how it showed that Indian textile manufacturing can compete globally-not by being the cheapest, but by being the most reliable, the most efficient, and the most responsible.