Commencement of Silk Fab Exhibition at Constitution Club of India, Rafi Marg, New Delhi on October 3rd, 2017

The exhibition-cum-sale of exquisite silk handloom fabrics that enables an interface between weavers and consumers commences today.

Silk Fab exhibition is an initiative of the office of Development Commissioner for Handlooms, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India through National Handloom Development Corporation (NHDC) Ltd. to provide direct access to the handloom weavers to market their products to consumers in various cities of India.

The participants are from various State Government Bodies/Apex Societies, Primary Handloom Weavers Co-operative Societies and Handloom Agencies. 110 agencies belonging to 15 states are participating.

The handloom sector of India employs 65 lac persons directly or indirectly which is next only to agricultural sector in the country. The art of handloom weaving has traditional values attached to it and each region has exquisite varieties. The uniqueness of silk products such as Pochampalli, Paithani, Kanjivaram, Banarasi, Jamdani, Baluchari, and Ikkat, to name a few attracts customers across the globe with exclusive weaves, designs and traditional motifs.

Through these exhibitions, handloom agencies not only market their products at reasonable rates but also get to know customers' choice with regard to colour, design and weaving for future improvement of the product.

Government of India has launched the "Handloom Mark" scheme for handloom products and "Silk Mark" for genuinity of silk products, to encourage and give a distinct identity to the products, apart from highlighting the uniqueness of the products. It also serves a guarantee for the buyer that the product being purchased is genuinely handwoven.

All the exhibitors at the Silk Fab have been encouraged to display the 'Handloom Mark' and 'Silk Mark' tag on the products and thus aim to improve the earnings of the handloom weaver community.

The exhibition will be open to public from 11 am to 8 pm for fourteen days upto October 16, 2017. Exhibition includes State Government Agencies/Apex Bodies, Primary Handloom Weavers Co-operative Societies, and the agencies working under the recently started Integrated Handloom Development Scheme. The Primary Handloom Weavers Co-operative Societies are recommended by their respective State Governments.

Silk Products drawn from some of the exotic locations of India are on display and sale at the exhibition.

A brief list is given below :-

Andhra Pradesh Gadwal, Pochampally, Dharmavaram

Assam Muga Silk

Bihar Tassar, Kantha, Madhubani Prints

Chhattisgarh Tribal work, Kosa Silk

Delhi Printed Silk Sarees

Jammu & Kashmir Printed Silk Sarees, Dress Material

Jharkhand Kantha, Kosa Silk

Karnataka Chintamani, Kasuti Work, Karnataka Silk

Madhya Pradesh Chanderi, Maheshwari

Maharashtra Paithani, Pune Saree

Odisha Bomkai, Sambalpur

Rajasthan Bandhej

Uttar Pradesh Tanchoi, Jamdani, Jamawar (Banarasi)

West Bengal Baluchari, Kantha, Tangail.