The Telangana State Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society (TSCO) is planning to set up a Handloom Heritage Centre (HHC) at Karwan. Spread over 5,000 square yards, the HHC will be equipped with handlooms of different patterns, including Pochampally, Gadwal and Narayanpet, to mention a few.

The objective is to showcase the art and hard-work of weavers in weaving a saree. The next generation should learn about weaving and its history. The estimated cost of the project will be to the tune of Rs 3 crore. It will be an exhibition-cum-sale centre, said TSCO General Manager P Yadagiri.

This New Year, sales of handloom products have seen an unprecedented surge over the last few days which brings smiles on many weavers across the State. From district Collectors to clerks, MLAs to Ministers, film actors, celebrities and even students are now thronging outlets of the Telangana State Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society (TSCO) to buy handloom shirts, kurtas, sarees and dresses.

The rush has seen the average sales of the TSCO booming across the State, with previous sale figures of Rs 5 lakh a day now being rewritten with daily sale figures of Rs 11 lakh, according to TSCO General Manager P Yadagiri.

The entire credit should go to the Wear Handloom initiative launched by Handlooms and Textiles Minister K T Rama Rao, Yadagiri said, pointing out that ever since the Minister campaigned for handloom products and urged authorities to wear handloom shirts every Monday, the latest fashion trend in the State is handloom.

After Rao’s announcement, 15,000 linen shirts were sold in just one week. Hyderabad was a major revenue grosser for TSCO. In Hyderabad alone, where government officials and celebrities are going in for handloom shirts and kurtas, average sales have picked from about Rs 3 lakh a day to Rs 7 lakh a day.

Apart from shirts, kurtas and sarees, there is good demand for bed sheets and dhurries as well. Buoyed with the sales, TSCO has now placed orders for 1 lakh metres of cloth with weavers’ societies in Sircilla, Karimnagar, Warangal and Siddipet. This apart, a special orders have been placed for linen with Dubbaka weavers as well.

Going by the trend, officials feel the demand will only pick up this summer, for which TSCO is making all arrangements. It is not just TSCO, even retail Khadi outlets in the city are also witnessing an increase in their sales.

The response has spurred TSCO into an aggressive marketing strategy, which will see handloom boutiques being set up in TSCO showrooms in the city. There are 12 TSCO showrooms of which five are owned by the cooperative society. The boutiques will offer customized shirts, kurtas and other products. Emphasis will be on wedding attires as well. The boutiques would come up in five months.