The State Department of Industries and Commerce, Kerala is looking to revive the dying textile industry in the state, and ‘Power Weave’, a Make in Kerala initiative, may just be the ideal way to infuse that much-needed fresh lease of life into the dying industry. Under this initiative, the power woven fabrics from Kerala that are prepared at the four power loom Industrial Cooperative Societies in the state will now fall under brand ‘Power Weave’.
The Kerala government is introducing the concept, the ‘Power Weave’ brand that was launched in Ernakulam a few weeks ago, across the state.
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‘Power Weave’ has now also been introduced in Kozhikode through an exhibition-cum-sale initiative on Tuesday. The exhibition features a variety of textiles produced by the societies that include Jacquard sarees, printed sarees, shirts, uniform clothes, lungies, dhotis, bed-sheets, furnishings, towels and other textile items. The exhibition will go on till December 31, 2015.
Sam C Itticheria, Director of Handloom and Textiles, Government of Kerala, who inaugurated the event said, “The state has not been able to tap the potential of the vast market for the power woven fabrics. Power loom fabrics, costing Rs 35, 000 crore, are sold in Kerala every year, but the state only contributes fabrics worth Rs 500 crore, while the remaining share comes from Tamil Nadu or Gujarat. This situation must change if the industry has to survive.”
Chairman of Calicut Integrated Power Loom Cooperative Society P K Mukundan, Chairman of Wayanad Handloom Power Loom and Multipurpose Industrial Cooperative Society P J Antony, Chairman of Neyyattinkara Taluk Integrated Powerloom Village Industrial Cooperative Society L Gopi Krishnan and General Manager of Texfed V Dharmaraj were all present at the inaugural event.
‘Power Weave’ is a project of the Directorate of Handloom and Textiles and has been implemented by the Indian Institute of Handloom Technology, Kannur, and Texfed.
The brand is owned by Kerala Integrated Power Loom Cooperatives, a group of Integrated Power Loom Cooperative Societies in Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam, Kozhikode and Wayanad.
