The development of cotton industries in Britain affected textile producers in India in several
ways.
→ Indian textiles now had to complee with British textiles in the European and American markets. Exporting textiles to England also became increasingly difficult since very high duties
were imposed on Indian textiles imported into Britain.
→ By the beginning of the nineteenth century, English made cotton textiles successfully outsets
Indian goods from their traditional markets in Africa, America and Europe.
→ Thousands of weavers in India were now thrown out of employment.
→ Bengal weavers were the worst hit. English and European companies stopped buying Indian
goods and their agents no longer gave out advances to weavers to secure supplies. Distressed
weavers wrote petitions to the government to help them.
→ The textile factory industry in India faced many problems. It found it difficult to compete
with the cheap textiles imported from Britain.
→ In most countries, governments supported industrialization by imposing heavy duties on
imports. This eliminated competition and protected infant industries.