Co-optex Planning Design Studio At Coimbatore
Imagine touring the length and breadth of India in a couple of hours. While this would seem rather far-fetched, what does seem feasible is a tour of handloom fabrics woven by weavers across the country. Pashmina shawls from Kashmir, Banasari silk from Uttar Pradesh, Bengali cotton from West Bengal, Kota saris from Rajasthan and printed towels from Puducherry—one comes across all this and more at the National Handloom Expo-2008. The two-week fair, organised by the development commissioner of handlooms under the ministry of textiles, kicked off in the city at the Co-optex exhibition grounds in Chennai. Co-optex is the apex body of the Tamil Nadu handloom weavers co-operative society.
Co-optex International is planning to set up computerised design studios
“It’s a forum to encourage the weavers. Compared to 100 stalls last year, we have 125 participating in this edition,” said Ms MP Nirmala, special officer and managing director, Co-optex. The fair generated sales of Rs 3.12 crore last year. “The first week last year garnered sales of Rs 20-30 lakh. We expect the figure to go up to Rs 50 lakh this year,” Ms Nirmala added. Co-optex officials believe, that innovation in material and design intervention can help handloom weavers cope with competition from the power looms. One of the initiatives is marketing ‘eco-friendly’ attire procured from the under-privileged communities in the state. “We are promoting garments made of organic cotton, which we procure from the ‘Lambadi’ tribals in Dharmapuri district in Tamil Nadu.
The demand for such material, is going up, both in the domestic and export market,” said Ms Nirmala said. The apex body’s export division, Co-optex International is planning to set up computerised design studios at Chennai, Thanjavur and Coimbatore at a cost of Rs 1.2 crore.
30.03.2008.
