Material Insights · Understanding the Material World

Natural gas and Textiles and leather

Textile dyeing, printing and finishing need large amounts of low-temperature heat, and in clusters such as Surat much of it comes from piped gas, so gas prices and supply shocks pass quickly into processing charges, and high gas prices push units back to coal.

Natural gas (energy) and Textiles and leather (industry): 4 relationships.

How they are linked

1. Process heat

Physical flow · Medium · Natural gas → textiles and leather

Gas fires the boilers, thermic fluid heaters and dryers used to dye, print, finish and heat-set fabric, and supplies process heat in synthetic fibre plants; the site rates it 4 of 5 for polyester and nylon fibre producers.

  • 3 enterprise types in textiles and leather that depend on gas
  • 4 of 5 criticality for polyester and nylon fibre producers (process heat)

Nonwoven makers use gas for thermal bonding and dye and auxiliary suppliers for process heat, both rated 3 of 5. Gas exposure is therefore concentrated in wet processing, synthetic fibres and finishing.

Enterprise types that depend on it:

  • Polyester and nylon fibre producers: process heat (criticality 4 of 5)
  • Nonwoven and technical textile makers: thermal bonding (criticality 3 of 5)
  • Dye and textile auxiliary suppliers: process heat (criticality 3 of 5)

Sources: Material Insights

2. Gas or coal in boilers

Substitution · Strong · Coal and gas compete for textile process heat

Processing units can raise heat from coal or gas, so the cheaper fuel wins unless pollution rules force gas, and units switch back when gas prices rise.

  • about 90% share of Surat's roughly 400 processing units that had moved from coal to gas, 2009
  • 40 to 50 units that had gone back to coal as gas prices rose, 2009
  • ₹10,000 to 14,000 a tonne coal price cited by Surat mill owners, 2022

In 2009 only about 60% of Surat's gas need was supplied at the contracted price of ₹11 per cubic metre, with the rest at about ₹16, some 45% more, which pushed units back to coal. In 2022 the Gujarat Pollution Control Board served a closure notice on a unit burning waste cloth in its boiler to avoid costly coal, showing how cost pressure leads to dirtier fuels.

Sources: Business Standard; Global Textile Source

3. Gas prices into job charges

Cost and price · Medium · Gas prices → dyeing and printing charges

Fuel is a main operating cost of job-work dyeing and printing houses, so they pass gas price rises into the per-metre charges they bill weavers and traders.

  • 10% rise in Surat dyeing and printing charges after a gas price increase, 2011
  • over 400 Surat processing units that shut for seven days in protest, 2011

The 2011 episode shows processors acting together, through a week-long closure, to pass a gas price rise on to their customers. Where customers cannot absorb higher charges, the cost falls on processors' margins instead.

Sources: Fibre2Fashion

4. LNG supply shocks

Shared risk · Strong · Imported gas disruptions → textile cluster output

India imports close to half of its gas (it consumed about 189 MMSCMD against 97.5 MMSCMD of domestic output in 2026), so a disruption to Gulf supply cuts gas to city gas networks, and industrial users such as textile clusters face the cuts and spot-price costs.

  • about 25% share of India's gas supply hit by Gulf producers' force majeure, 2026
  • at least 80% share of textile and handicraft clusters' gas needs GAIL was meeting, May 2026
  • 50% gas supply cut imposed on the Shapar-Veraval foundry estate near Rajkot, March 2026

In 2026 Surat and Sanganer reported partial or complete shutdowns of units for lack of gas and LPG, and the government issued a Natural Gas Control Order on 9 March 2026 naming textiles and handicrafts among priority sectors. Coal prices in Surat rose by nearly 35% in two weeks in March 2026 as units looked for substitutes.

Sources: Apparel Resources; DeshGujarat

For investors

Key learnings

  1. Gas exposure in textiles is concentrated in wet processing, finishing and synthetic fibres, where the site rates it up to 4 of 5.
  2. Coal and gas compete for textile process heat, so high gas prices reduce gas sales to clusters such as Surat and raise pollution risk.
  3. The 2026 supply shock showed that cluster output can fall quickly when imported gas is cut, with priority rules deciding who gets supply.

What to track

  • Industrial PNG prices in Gujarat: Processing costs and pressure to switch to coal (Monthly · Gujarat Gas and other city gas distributors)
  • Spot LNG price (Asia): Cost of marginal gas for industrial users (Weekly · Platts JKM, Argus)
  • Surat dyeing and printing job charges: Whether gas costs are being passed on (Quarterly · South Gujarat processors' associations)

For policymakers

Key learnings

  1. Gas helps textile clusters meet air pollution rules, but only if its price stays close to coal, so pollution policy and gas pricing need to be set together.
  2. India's reliance on imported gas makes textile clusters vulnerable to LNG shocks, as the 2026 Natural Gas Control Order showed.
  3. Where gas is too dear, units turn to coal or waste fuels, so enforcement and access to affordable clean heat go together.

What to track

  • LNG imports and force majeure notices: Risk of supply cuts to city gas networks (Monthly · PPAC)
  • Gas allocation to priority sectors under control orders: Who bears supply cuts in a shortage (As issued · Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas)
  • Pollution enforcement actions in textile clusters: Fuel switching away from gas towards coal or waste (Quarterly · Gujarat Pollution Control Board)

India

Surat's textile processing houses moved largely from coal to gas but switch back when gas is dear, and the 2026 Gulf supply shock caused partial shutdowns in Surat and Sanganer and a Natural Gas Control Order naming textiles as a priority sector.

Sources

  1. Textiles and leather: materials, Material Insights (2026)
  2. Surat textile units eye coal, blame high gas prices, Business Standard (2009)
  3. Gujarat Pollution Control Board slaps closure notice on textile unit for replacing coal with waste clothes, Global Textile Source (2022)
  4. Surat processing units hike printing, dyeing charges, Fibre2Fashion (2011)
  5. Centre assesses gas supply risks in textile clusters amid ongoing shortages, Apparel Resources (2026)
  6. Gas supply cut by 50%, prices tripled: West Asia war hits Shapar-Veraval industries, DeshGujarat (2026)