In 1818, the first cotton mill in India was established at Fort Gloster, near:

In 1818, the first cotton mill in India was established at Fort Gloster, at Bowreah (Bauria), on the Hooghly river near Calcutta (Kolkata), in present-day West Bengal.

About the Fort Gloster mill:

• It was set up by a British company, with machinery imported from Britain.
• It was known as the Bowreah Cotton Mills.
• It was the first attempt to set up a modern, machine-based cotton mill in India.
• It did not achieve much commercial success at first.
• Later, the area of Fort Gloster also became a centre of the jute industry.

The first successful cotton mill:

• The first successful modern cotton textile mill was set up in Bombay in the 1850s by Cowasjee Nanabhoy Davar (the Bombay Spinning and Weaving Company).
• Bombay became the centre of the cotton textile industry in India, because of its port, the availability of raw cotton from the Deccan, capital from Indian merchants, and a humid climate.
• Ahmedabad later became another great centre ("Manchester of India").

Growth of the cotton industry:

• By the end of the 19th century, there were many cotton mills in Bombay, Ahmedabad and other cities.
• Indian mills mainly produced coarse yarn and cloth, and faced competition from British machine-made goods.
• During the Swadeshi Movement and the First World War, the Indian cotton industry grew rapidly.

NCERT on early industries:

NCERT notes that the first cotton mill in India was set up as a spinning mill in Bombay in 1854; but it also notes earlier attempts.

Other early industries:

• The first jute mill was set up in 1855 at Rishra, near Calcutta.
• The Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) was set up at Jamshedpur in 1907.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Bombay and Ahmedabad became major centres later.
• ✗Madras was not the site of this first mill.