Design studio planned at Co-optex to track trends

A fusion store and GI tagging proposed in budget, says Minister

A ₹10-crore design studio will also act as a networking centre at the Co-optex. | Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO

A design studio has been proposed to be set up on Co-optex premises in the city at a cost of ₹10 crore, Handlooms and Textiles Minister R. Gandhi told the State Assembly on Thursday.

The design studio would function as a networking centre for international brands, assess fashion trends, conduct interaction between weavers and international buyers besides exploring opportunities to showcase the State’s handloom products.

The department has allocated ₹10 crore to introduce 500 new designs in association with the National Institute of Fashion Technology in Chennai and Bengaluru. The department has proposed to sign an agreement with garment designers and companies for the purpose.

The department has allocated ₹50 lakh to train 50 designers from weavers’ cooperative societies through the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, to develop garments and designs to cater to the changing customer tastes and the international market.

The department has proposed to set up a fusion store called Handlooms of India at a cost of ₹10 crore to showcase the unique silk and cotton saris from the State and across the country. Another ₹10 crore had been allocated to audit and document the handloom and powerlooms in the State and geo-tag them. Each loom would be provided bar codes with details of the loom, its owner, type of products produced and schemes for the weavers.

Wages, pension

The Minister said that in 2021-22 the government had sanctioned ₹33.09 crore to 27,285 elderly handloom weavers, who were each receiving an old age pension of ₹1,000. A sum of ₹1.61 crore had been sanctioned for family pension to 1,251 handloom weavers. The department had revised the pre-loom wages of the handloom weavers by ₹6 per unit for saris and ₹2 per unit for dhotis, Mr. Gandhi said.

The Tamil Nadu Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society had sold products worth ₹171.90 crore through its showrooms and ₹135.47 crore through online facility in 2021-22, the Minister told the Assembly.

Minister T.M. Anbarasan said the sericulture department had allocated ₹5.25 crore to encourage farmers to plant high-yielding mulberry saplings on 5,000 acres of land. Another ₹6 crore would be given as incentive to enable 500 sericulture farmers to establish silkworm rearing facilities. Last year, 300 farmers had been supported in this manner.