The Karnataha Handloom Development Corporation (KHDC) is making efforts to revive traditional ‘Gayatri' brand of Ilakal sarees and ‘Gandaberunda' brand of sarees.
“These two brands are old and traditional in nature. They still have demand and we have decided to revive it and apart from this, other silk products named Kalanjali, Navya Kalanjali were also being introduced in the market,” said Mr Mohammed Mohsin, Managing Director of KHDC.
The corporation has also roped in National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) and National Institute of Design (NID) to help in developing new products keeping in mind the present market trends, he added.
The corporation's total sales are around Rs 140 crore, an increase of 40 per cent over the corresponding period last year.
“Through introduction of new range of products both traditional and modern, the corporation has set a target of Rs 40 crore in the retail business this fiscal,” said Mr Mohsin.
Retail biz
“The shift in company's increased focus on the retail sector is that we can earn to pay better wages and incentives to the weavers”, he added. The corporation's retail business in fiscal 2010-11 was Rs 22.5 crore, which again was an increase of 40 per cent over the business done during FY 2009-10.
Wages
Mr Mohsin said the corporation was able to convince the government on the need to hike the wages. The government had agreed for a hike of 20 per cent in the wages of the weavers doing works in cotton and 15 per cent for those involved in silk works.
He said that while the government had already announced waiver of the interest on the ‘Dutch loan scheme' availed by the weavers, it was considering waiver of interest on the housing loans taken by the weavers from HUDCO.
The government, one of the key customers of the corporation, had already paid Rs 30 crore for the supply of school uniforms under the ‘Vidya Vikas' scheme and the remaining Rs 19 crore is likely to be released in over a month.