Question

In which state, the jute mills were set up in the same period when cotton mills were established elsewhere in India?
A. Kerala
B. Karnataka
C. Gujarat
D. Bengal

Answer 1

Hint: The first cotton factory in India was “Bombay Spinning and Weaving Company” which was set up in Bombay on 7 July 1854 at Tardeo by Cowasjee Nanabhoy Davar (1815-73) and his partners. Sir William Fairbaim was the designer of the factory.

Complete answer:
The Acland Mill was the first jute factory set up in India. The factory was set up in 1855 by British business visionary George Acland and Bengali lender Babu Bysumber Sen in Rishra, Bengal Presidency, British India, present-day West Bengal, India.
The first cotton mill of Bombay was established in 1854 and production began two years later. Jute mills also came up in Bengal, around the same time, the first being set up in 1855 and another one seven years later, in 1862.

Hence, the correct answer is option (D).

Additional information:
In the early nineteenth century, jute produced in India and Bengal was insignificant and of low quality. The Crimean War disturbed import of hemp and flax from the Russian Empire to Britain. This empowered the Bengali jute industry to forever replace the flax and hemp supply. By the mid eighteenth century, Bengal exported enormous amounts of raw jute to the flax business in Dundee.

Note: In 1862, The Acland Mill was burnt down. Acland restored the plant under the new name of the "Ischera Yarn Mill". Ischera Yarn Mill was then sold to new proprietors in 1868, who again restarted the factory under the new name of the "Calcutta Jute Mills Co., Ld.".