Soon, e-commerce platform for selling handwoven saris

Representational file photo.

After getting favourable support for “My Handloom, My Pride,” and “My Sari, My Pride” campaigns, the Union Textiles Ministry decided to launch an e-commerce platform that would help weavers and artisans sell their products, directly to consumers. The Ministry also plans to hold “My Sari, My Pride” exhibitions at all the district centres and small cities of the country.

Talking to The Hindu, Union Textiles Secretary Rachna Shah said though it was early to see the impact of “My sari, My pride” campaign, the exhibition was curated by the National Institute of Fashion Technology in Delhi. “My Handloom, My Pride was a campaign we have been doing for some time. We have a rich tradition of handwoven saris and about 120 types of the same. We showcased 75 such saris in an exhibition held in Delhi and it generated a buzz among people. This excitement needs to be sustained. We are planning to do this by curating similar exhibitions across the country. We will continue to promote handwoven saris and other garments,” Ms. Shah said.

She added that the Ministry was looking at launching an e-commerce platform to enable weavers and artisans to directly sell their products. “I am hoping that very shortly, it will be launched. A soft launch of the pilot version will be done soon. Typically, in our marketing efforts, we do exhibitions across the country. In many of the G 20 meetings, we have been showcasing traditional handwoven garments and handicrafts,” she said and added that handloom and handicraft sectors required adequate exposure in terms of marketing, raw materials and product design support. “This will be part of the government’s intervention,” she said.

On the de-growth in the textile industry and the expectations from stakeholders for governmental aid, she said the Centre was taking multi-pronged strategies. “I wouldn’t say a sharp de-growth, but certainly there is a stagnation. We are hopeful that the exports will improve this year. The market is not looking good globally. We will create infrastructure which can make us globally competitive. To cater to this, we have schemes such as Prime Minister’s Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) scheme and the production-linked incentives. We will have to increase skills of our workers. As many as 4.5 crore people are directly and six crore indirectly employed in this sector. Through Technical textile mission and man-made fibre segment, we will probably see higher growth in the sector,” she added.