An integrated website of India Handloom Brand (www.indiahandloombrand.gov) a one stop platform for all services to consumers, bulk buyers and handloom producers has been launched on Thursday by Textiles Secretary Rashmi Verma. With this launch, the India handloom brand has gone online, raising the market positioning of handloom products.

The website will provide full details of all registered India Handloom producers, retail stores and e-commerce platforms from where India handloom branded products can be purchased. They will also facilitate verification of genuine India Handloom product through the registration number which is printed on every label on the product.

The web site has a section where handloom producers could apply online for registration under the Brand and also track status of their application.

While launching the website, Ms. Verma said that the Government was committed to raise the market positioning of handloom products for development of handloom industry and for increasing wages of handloom weavers.

‘India Handloom’ Brand was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August, 7, 2015, the first National Handloom Day, to endorse the quality of handloom products in terms of raw material, processing, embellishment, weaving, design and other parameters besides social and environment compliance.

She said that the website will be an important platform for achieving these objectives and would be user- friendly both for consumers as well as handloom producing agencies.

The registration under the brand is given after stringent testing of samples in Government of India laboratory. By February 10 this year, 121 handloom producing agencies/enterprises have been given registration under the Brand in 33 product categories.

Several e-commerce platforms and leading retail stores have been engaged for marketing of India Handloom branded products.

More than 4.3 million people are engaged in this sector with annual production of 720 crore sq.mtrs which is 14 percent of the total textile sector. It provides livelihood to large number of rural women and backward sections of the society.

The main objective is to promote the production of quality products with new designs for winning the trust and confidence of customers by giving particular attention to defect free, hand woven, authentic niche products with zero defect and zero impact on environment.

Development Commissioner for Handlooms, Ministry of Textiles is responsible for development of sector in partnership with state governments. It is supported by 28 Weavers' Service Centres and 10 Indian Institutes of Handloom Technology. National Handloom Development Corporation is responsible for supply of quality yarn, dyes and chemicals.