Ministry of Textiles in order to support the Handloom sector and remove the difficulties faced by the handloom weavers,  is implementing the following schemes across the country:

1. National Handloom Development Programme;
2. Raw Material Supply Scheme;

Under the above schemes, financial assistance is provided to the eligible handloom agencies/weavers for raw materials, common infrastructure development, marketing of handloom products in domestic/overseas markets, Weaver MUDRA Loans etc.

Prices of handloom are market driven, and therefore price fluctuations reflect in the profit margins of weavers. The Government endeavours to create an ecosystem of marketing platforms, domestic as well as international, physical as well as virtual so as to improve the outreach and enhance saleability of handloom products.

The government also endeavours to enhance the profit margins of weavers through Raw Material Supply scheme, by providing freight reimbursement on transportation of all types of yarn, and 15% price Subsidy on cotton hank yarn, domestic silk, woollen and linen yarn and blended yarn of natural fibres with quantity restrictions. This scheme also endeavours to set the benchmark price and quality of yarn in the open market so that prices remain within reasonable limits and consistent supply and quality parameters are maintained in the market, thus helping to arrest profiteering by the intermediaries.

In addition to the above,

• To support direct product selling to handloom customers, marketing expos and events are organised. This helps alleviate intermediaries, arrest price fluctuations due to the same and ensures remunerative prices to Handloom weavers.  Also, price subsidy of 15% is provided on certain types of yarns, bringing down input cost for the weavers.
• Under Weaver MUDRA/Concessional Credit Scheme, margin money assistance at 20% of the loan amount subject to a maximum of Rs. 25,000/- for individual weaver/Weaver Entrepreneur and Rs. 20 lakh for Handloom Organizations, interest subvention upto 7% and credit guarantee fees on loans for a period of three years are provided.
• Steps have been taken to on-board weavers and artisans on Government e-Market (GeM) place to enable them sell their products directly to various Government Departments and organizations. So far about 1.5 lakh weavers have been on-boarded on the GeM portal.
• Weavers are facilitated to sell their products online and 23 e-commerce platforms have been associated by Ministry of Textiles under a policy framework.
• For export promotion of handloom products, Handloom Export Promotion Council has been organizing International Fairs.  During the year 2021-22, various international marketing fairs/events have been organised.
• To enhance productivity, marketing capabilities and ensure better incomes, 135 Handloom Producer companies have been formed in different States.
• ‘India Handloom’ brand (IHB) has been launched for branding of high quality handloom products. The main objective of IHB is to promote production of niche handloom products with high quality, authentic designs with zero defects, and zero effect on environment.
• Design Resource Centres have been set up in Weavers’ Service Centres at Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati and Kancheepuram to build and create design-oriented excellence in the Handloom Sector and to facilitate weavers, exporters, manufacturers and designers access design repositories for sample/product improvisation and development.

The scheme-wise and year-wise funds allocated/utilized during the last five years including the current year in Handloom Sector is as below:

This information was given by the Minister of State for Textiles Smt. Darshana Jardosh in a written reply in the Lok Sabha today.

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DJN/AM/TFK