India is the 9th largest producer of wool in the world contributing, around 2 percent to the world’s total wool production. Though the wool-producing industry is relatively a smaller sector as compared to cotton or man-made fibre industries, it still plays a significant role in the economic development and textile exports of the country.
There are many states in India engaged in the production of wool such as Karnataka, Jammu & Kashmir, Telangana, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh. But the state which produces the highest amount of wool is Rajasthan. Rajasthan faces adverse climatic conditions which result in the scarcity of water for irrigation and a very low average annual rainfall. These conditions leave less scope for the agricultural activities in the state and hence, the people of Rajasthan shifted to animal husbandry, which contributes considerably to the gross domestic product of the state. The state has 70 wool processing units and produces more than 15 million tonnes of wool every year. Rajasthan represents 30% of the wool production in India.
Rajasthan is ranked fourth in the sheep population and accounted for an estimated sheep population of 7.9 million. The average wool production in Rajasthan is about 1.12 kg per sheep every year. The state has eight different breeds of sheep that are popular for producing high-quality carpet wool which constitutes 85% of wool produced in the state.
During 2018-19, the wool production in Rajasthan was 14,880.57 thousand kgs, which estimated 36.81% of the total wool produced in India during the year. At the second position was Telangana, which accounts for 11.88% of countries wool, with a wool production of 4,800 thousand kgs. Karnataka, which is the third-largest wool-producing state, produced 4,344.00 thousand kgs of wool in 2018-19. Karnataka’s share in total wool production was 10.75%. Gujarat came at the fourth position, with 2,300 thousand kgs of wool production and 5.69% of the country’s share. At the fifth position was Himachal Pradesh with a total wool production of 1,500 thousand kgs and, a share of 3.71% in the country’s wool production.
Major Wool Producing States:
| Rank | State | Wool Production 2018-19 (in ‘000Kg) | % Share |
| 1 | Rajasthan | 14880.57 | 36.81% |
| 2 | Telangana | 4800 | 11.88% |
| 3 | Karnataka | 4344 | 10.75% |
| 4 | Gujarat | 2300 | 5.69% |
| 5 | Himachal Pradesh | 1500 | 3.71% |
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