The Tamil Nadu government plans to establish 10 mini handloom parks across the state including in Coimbatore, Gudiyatham, Jayakondam and Kancheepuram. Each of these parks will house 100-150 handloom weavers, besides a market expert. Together they will form a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to manufacture products based on requirements as assessed by the market expert.

The third largest handloom market in India after Assam and West Bengal, Tamil Nadu employs around 2.2 lakh people with 50 per cent of them being women and about 50 per cent of them being covered by the cooperative support system.

However, increasing mechanisation and powerlooms are impacting the handloom industry in Tamil Nadu with these products no longer being partronised by the common man. 

Currently, handlooms in Tamil Nadu focus only on saris. The profession needs to be made remunerative by adding more niche products and tapping on the export potential, says K Vivekanandan, Commissioner-Textiles, Government of Tamil Nadu. 

Traditionally, handlooms are housed in individual homes and collectively come under a cooperative society. The mini-handloom parks will bring them under one common roof to jointly produce for the market, adds Vivekanandan.

The government along with Co-optex has been diversifying products to include shirts, kurtis, home and kitchen furnishings as well as accessories. The handlooms department has conducted awareness programs in 150 colleges to create a market for handloom products among students.

Another problem with handlooms is that mostly a particular community is involved in the trade. Since the focus of these handlooms has been on one product, their income has being limited. To secularise the sector, the state government has started several weaver induction training programs. 

The sector also needs to expand its product range to attract young buyers, opines Jawahar Singh, Cofounder and CEO, Avishya Trading. Removing middlemen would ensure higher returns for weavers, he adds.