Andhra Pradesh is one of the important states for the handloom industry to set up two mega handloom clusters each at Mangalagiri and Chirala in the state of Andhra Pradesh with an investment of Rs.1 billion to promote handloom sector and thereby help improve the livelihood of 2,00, 310 handloom weavers in cooperative fold and 1,58,902 other weavers, who have been constantly facing many problems.

According to the Minister for Backward Classes Welfare, Handlooms and Excise, Kollu Ravindra, the mega clusters planned would be equipped with all facilities to support the weavers, including machinery. The buildings for the mega cluster at Mangalagiri would be completed soon.

For each mega cluster, Rs.70 million would come from the central government while the remaining would be borne by the state government.

There are as many as 31 mini-clusters functioning across the state and each of them would be provided Rs.6 million this year.

There are about 60,000 handloom weavers at Chirala and presently, 25,000 of them are active, working on about 18,000 looms and about 81,000 powerlooms working in the state, including those in the cooperative fold.

Chirala in Prakasam district and Mangalagiri in Guntur district in the state of Andhra Pradesh are renowned centres for handloom. However, weavers have been going through hard times recently and mega clusters would be a boon for them.

Ethnicity of Andhra Pradesh handlooms is known all over the world because of their unique designs. In Andhra Pradesh, major handloom varieties are Mangalagiri, Venkatagiri, Uppada, Chirala, Pochampally, Dharmavaram, Kalamkari, Gadwal, Narayanpet, and Siddipet.

Handlooms, an undivided entity of the textile industry occupies a very special place in generating profits as well as promoting Indian culture globally.