A National Level Special Handloom Expo, a 14 day expo started on Tueday sponsored by Development Commissioner (Handlooms) under Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. The Exp was formally inaugurated by Soma Bhattacharji, Commissioner of Textiles and Sericulture, Government of West Bengal.

The Association of Corporation and APEX Societies of Handlooms (ACASH) along with the Weavers Service Centre, Kolkata Chapter and Directorate of Textiles and Handlooms, Government of West Bengal organized this Expo comprising 47 stalls of weavers societies from various parts of the country displaying their connoisseurs in the artistry of handloom products.

The states from which the handloom products were displayed included West Bengal, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.

According to Tapan Sharma, Deputy Director in charge of the Weavers Service Centre, the sales turnover in this years Expo is expected to be Rs.2 Crore or above. Last year the same Expo was held from September 17 to 30 and the sales turnover was Rs.1 Crore 72 Lakhs.

He said, the Union Ministry of Textiles has adopted TANTAVI Programme and National Centre for Textile Design (NCTD) is involved in it to revive the traditional handloom products in contemporary designs to make them marketable. It is also to be noted that Dhaniakhali sarees, Shantipuri and Baluchari sarees have come under geographical indications now-a-days.

The Government of India is observing 7th August as National Handloom Day from this year. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi launched the India Handloom Brand for better market positioning of quality handloom products on this day.

The Expo will run through till Oct 12 in the southern part of Kolkata.