India’s textile and apparel sector contributes around 11% of manufacturing gross value addition and remains one of the country’s largest sources of industrial employment. Gujarat and Tamil Nadu have emerged as two of the most important textiles manufacturing states, together hosting globally competitive clusters spanning spinning, weaving, wet processing and garment manufacturing. Textile processing activities are dominated by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which account for the overwhelming majority of units in both Surat and Perundurai. Wet processing operations such as dyeing, bleaching, drying, and finishing are highly energy-intensive, with thermal energy accounting for the bulk of energy consumption. Steam, hot water and hot air are indispensable to these processes, making industrial heat one of the most critical yet least addressed dimensions of textile decarbonisation.

At the same time, evolving buyer expectations, increasing fuel price volatility, and improving cost-economics for clean energy with growing emphasis on supply-chain sustainability, are creating a strong imperative to rethink thermal infrastructure and transition towards more efficient and resilient heating systems.

This study assesses pathways for decarbonising industrial heat in textile wet processing clusters in Surat in Gujarat and Perundurai in Tamil Nadu, based on field engagements with process houses, thermal energy profiling, techno-economic analysis and interactions with industry stakeholders. Rather than treating electrification as a simple fuel-switching exercise, the study finds that the transition requires rethinking thermal and grid infrastructure, improving energy productivity, and enhancing long-term competitiveness and resilience of textile manufacturing.

Methodology

The study focuses on understanding the energy use patterns of textile processing units within the Surat cluster. The analyses focus on applications of industrial heat and steam i.e., textile dyeing, drying and finishing. The processing clusters located at Pandesara, Sachin, Kadodara and Palsana formed the primary focus of field visits and data collection undertaken as a part of this study. The study involved physical visits to textile processing units to collect data on both thermal and electrical energy consumption. For data collection, we followed a stratified sampling technique where the segmentation of the textile units was based on two characteristics:

1. Type of processing operation:
   • Only printing
   • Both printing and dyeing
2. Cost of operation:
   • High-cost dyeing or both printing and dyeing
   • Low-cost dyeing or both printing and dyeing

For Tamil Nadu, the study involved field-level engagements with textile processing units and industry associations across Perundurai SIPCOT, Tiruppur and Salem. The field visits focused on collecting unit-level technical and operational data related to steam generation, thermic-fluid heating, fuel consumption, process temperatures, steam pressure requirements, electricity tariffs, renewable energy access and existing heat-recovery practices.

Further, the study identified a broad spectrum of key stakeholders for electrification of industrial heat and steam. These include industry associations, policymakers, electricity utilities, renewable energy developers, technology manufacturers and financial institutions as each play a distinct role in enabling the transition through policy support, infrastructure development, technology deployment, and investment facilitation.

Findings

The two clusters represent fundamentally different market structures and fuel-use patterns. Contrasting characteristics imply that industrial heat transition pathways cannot follow a “one-size-fits-all” approach and must reflect differences in product mix, export orientation, fuel dependencies, and thermal requirements. Some of the study findings presented below unpack these attributes in more detail.

1. Textile heat demand within a facility is heterogeneous, but existing thermal systems are designed around peak loads and high-temperature requirements – Industrial heat systems can be redesigned by matching technologies with process temperature requirements, right-sizing equipment, improving load matching, recovering waste heat and deploying modular heating solutions, thereby cutting inefficiencies embedded across the thermal chain.
2. Levelised cost of heating analysis highlights the importance of electricity costs and system integration – Levelised Cost of Heat (LCoH) comparisons show that heating costs are influenced by several independent factors, including fuel quality, operating hours, system utilisation, equipment efficiency, electricity tariffs and access to low-cost renewable power.
3. Ageing infrastructure presents a natural transition opportunity – Many textile units are approaching major reinvestment and replacement cycles. Such cycles provide an important window for redesigning thermal infrastructure.
4. Ecosystem and policy barriers continue to constrain adoption – Key opportunities for growth include implementing advanced process-level data tracking, designing MSME-friendly business models, and unifying supply chains with local demonstration projects to establish reliable performance benchmarks. Furthermore, there is immense potential in crafting robust policy frameworks with strong operational incentives.
5. Electrification offers benefits extending far beyond decarbonisation – Industrial heat electrification should be viewed not merely as an emissions reduction strategy but as an opportunity to redesign thermal infrastructure, enhance energy productivity, strengthen energy security and improve the long-term competitiveness and resilience of India’s textile manufacturing clusters.

About this publication

Suggested citation: Srinivas Ethiraj, Vrinda Gupta, 2026. Working Paper on Electrification of Textile Heat. Vasudha Foundation.
Published: July 2026  
Publisher: Vasudha Foundation  
Pages: 64