Concept note

on
Small Scale Wool Processing Unit - Raw Wool to Fabric
Sheep rearing is a traditional occupation of rural communities of Uttarakhand,
Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Telangana and Gujarat. It is estimated that
there are more than half a million sheep in the Uttarakhand region alone which yield nearly
560 tons of wool annually. Himachal Pradesh accounts for yearly 1500 metric tons of raw wool
yearly. Table-1 gives major wool producing states of India. Traditionally, wool is sheared two
times a year and raw wool is mainly exported out of the state at relatively low prices. Local
people process small quantities of raw wool for personal use by washing, hand carding,
spinning and weaving for making apparel and blankets. Since there are limited commercial
wool processing facilities in the states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, local weavers
and shawl makers have been importing processed wool from Calcutta, Bikaner, Amritsar,
Ludhiana and Panipat.
Local wool if processed indigenously can boost wool based handicraft industry and be
a significant source of livelihood in rural areas. Presently large-scale wool
processing equipment is available only in the selected urban centres of the country. However,
micro-level wool processing technologies are not available to help the village handicraft
community at the village level. Keeping in view, the requirement of the local wool industry
micro processing equipment has been designed at RuTAG Centre, IIT Roorkee which can be
used for processing raw wool to provide carded and dyed wool to local weavers and felt
makers. Small capacity machines developed at the RuTAG IIT Roorkee are dust wallow
machines, used for removing the dust from the sheared wool, wool teaser machine, used for
opening wool, carding machines, washing tank and spinning wheel, and mechanised rollers for
making felt. Figure-1 shows a schematic to give the complete process of small-scale wool
processing unit-Raw wool to fabric.
The entire system of equipment is estimated to cost nearly Rs 10 lakhs for a micro
processing unit which can provide facilities for washing raw wool, carding and dyeing wool
for hand spinning and making ornamental felts. Processing of 5 to 10 tons of raw wool per year
is likely to recover its cost in duration of 3 to 6 years and provide direct employment to 5 to 6
local persons. Besides providing employment, the processing unit will also help in creating
employment to nearly 100 artesian in neighbouring villages for additional livelihoods as raw
wool would be processed to provide sliver for local spinning and weaving, and woollen mats
for felting. A cost analysis has been made as give in Table-2.
Table-1: Major wool producing states of India, 2017-18

Sr. Wool Production (metric tons)

States
No
1 Rajasthan 13924
2 Jammu & Kashmir 7411
3 Karnataka 4392
4 Telangana 4800
5 Gujarat 2267
6 Himachal Pradesh 1500
7 Maharashtra 1418
8 Uttarakhand 558
9 Uttar Pradesh 1404
10 Andhra Pradesh 793
 Figure-1: Schematic of small-scale wool processing unit-Raw wool to fabric

Wool Shearing from Sheep Collection of sheared wool Dust wallow machine Wool washing using heating tank Wool drying in solar dryer or sun drying

Quantity of raw wool for

processing: 10 tons/year

Quantity of wool after processing :7 tons

Power rating :4.0 kW
Processing and washing charges :Rs. 40/kg
Expected yearly income generated :1.75 Lakh

Wool dying process (optional)

Quantity of wool processed :3 tons
Power rating : 3.5kW
Dyeing charges :Rs. 100/kg
Expected yearly income generated :0.50 Lakh

Affluent treatment

Carded Wool may be used in Carded Wool can be used in Felt making Wool Carding machine Wool opener machine
yarn making through charkha

Quantity of wool after processing :6 tons

Power rating :3.5 kW
Opening and Carding charges :Rs. 40/kg
Expected yearly income generated :0.55 Lakh
Local stream

Use of Yarn for apparel Felt made from local wool

Quantity of wool processed :2 tons

Expected yearly income generated :5 Lakh
Table-2: Cost benefit analysis

1. Capital expenditure:
(i) Civil Works Rs. 2.50 Lakhs
(including water connection, electricity connection etc)
(ii) Equipment cost Rs. 7.50 Lakhs
(including Dust wallow machine, wool opener machine, carding
machine, heating tanks, washing tank, felt rollers etc.)
Total Capital expenditure Rs 10.00 Lakhs
2. Annual Revenue through Processing Charges (Assuming 10 tons
of wool per year)
(i) Scouring and Carding Rs. 6.80 Lakhs
(ii) Dyeing Per year (assuming 3 Tons dyed per year) Rs. 3.00 Lakhs
Total Annual Revenue Generated Rs.9.80 Lakhs
3. Annual expenditure
Labour cost for Scouring, Carding and Dyeing, Electricity and Rs. 7.50 Lakhs
maintenance charges)
Net Annual Profit Rs. 2.30 Lakhs
4. Annual Profit % 23%
5. Payback period 4 Years

Felt Making (Value Addition)

(i) Annual Sale of the felt of size 54 x 60 Rs. 11.66 Lakhs
(ii) Annual expenditure Rs. 8.85 Lakhs
(iii) Expected yearly profit Rs. 5.11 Lakhs