According to the data on 207 member mills of Southern India Mills' Association (Sima), cotton consumption was up to 4598.92 lakh kg for 1999-2000.

The 207 member mills together have an installed capacity of 56.36 lakh spindles. Sima data available on 221 mills for the 1998-'99 fiscal had put the total cotton consumption at only 4384.67 lakh kg, though the installed capacity of these mills together was around 61.20 lakh spindles.

The data is compiled from reporting member mills from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Pondicherry and Tamil Nadu. Because of lack of adequate comparable data consumption trend in the case of man made fibre for the year cannot be arrived at. However, the 207 mills have reported a total consumption of only 151.36 lakh kg of viscose staple fibre for 1999-2000 against 187.44 lakh kg consumed by the 221 member mills during the previous fiscal.

A notable aspect is the increase in spindle activity in South India. Reporting member spinning mills of Sima in all the southern states, except those in Karnataka, have shown an increase in percentage spindle utilisation. Cotton yarn production in the Southern region (including SSI production) increased by around 6.70 per cent to 1104.38 million kg compared to 1035.46 million kg produced during 1998-'99. Cotton yarn production in Tamil Nadu alone stood at 904.95 million kg (838.50 million kg). The trend in Southern states in line with that across the country.

The total cotton yarn production in the country (including SSI production) went up by nearly nine per cent to 2203.48 million kg during 1999-2000 fiscal against 2022.10 million kg produced in the previous fiscal.