The Indian handloom industry has a glorious past and committed towards the resurgence of hand-woven textiles and also keep key focus towards weavers welfare and development, Central Cottage Industries Emporium and Office of Development Commissioner (Handlooms), Ministry of Textiles, jointed organized exhibition cum sale titled "First Home of India Handloom Brand Products,” which was inaugurated by Union Textiles Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar at Jawahar Vyapar Bhawan, Janpath, New Delhi on Wednesday.

In his address, the minister said that he want to take India Handloom Brand to the entire country. In order to make handloom products more popular in the current scenario, it becomes imperative to produce good quality, defect-free handloom fabrics with good colour-fastness that do not contain harmful dyes.

There is also a need to widen the range of products in order to cater to a larger audience, especially the youth, which today has access to fashion from across the globe.

The exhibition showcases authentic and good quality products under the 'India Handloom' Brand, drawn from some of the exotic locations of India. All these products are on display and sale at the flagship showroom of CCIC, at competitive prices for the public.

The products range from sarees: Chanderi, Mangalagiri, Venkatagiri, Balrampuram, Maheshwari, Kota Doria, Pochampalli, Tangail, Chettinad, Banaras Tanchoi Silk, Banarasi Buti Silk; Fabrics: Banaras Tanchoi Silk, Banaras Cut-Work, Plain Tussar, Ikat, Pochampalli; Kullu Shawls and Pochampalli Bedspreads.

The showcased collections have been made using textiles from across India, to create a unique identity and promote the rich Indian culture and heritage. This is a part of a continuing initiative to promote handlooms of India. The main focus is to retain the sanctity of traditional hand-woven textiles, while moulding the styles for a more contemporary look.

The presence of India Handloom Brand logo would differentiate their product(s) and provide quality assurance to customers. The premium branding would be helpful to weavers in sourcing quality fabrics for their product(s) and in enhancing their sales and earnings through bulk marketing both within and outside India.

Registered users of the India Handloom Brand will also get assistance for institutional finance, design development and technical assistance under the National Handloom Development Programme, as per applicable guidelines.

India Handloom Brand is an initiative of the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, for branding of high quality handloom products.

The India Handloom Brand is an endorsement of the high quality of the handloom products to which it is applied, in terms of raw materials, processing, embellishments, weaving design and other quality parameters, besides social and environmental compliances in their production.

This would help in earning customer trust and in standardization of quality in handloom products.

Babul Supriyo, MoS, Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation; Kiran Kher, Member of Parliament; Rashmi Verma, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, Alok Kumar, Development Commissioner (Handlooms) and Pramod Nagpal, Managing Director, CCIC of India Ltd. were also present on the occasion.