Parliament Question: Promote Design Initiative

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 409 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.07.2025 PROMOTE DESIGN INITIATIVE 409. SHRI SELVAM G: SHRI NAVASKANI K: Will the Minister of TEXTILES वस्त्र मंत्री be pleased to state : (a) the major schemes being implemented by the Government for the promotion and development of handloom and handicraft sectors in the country, State-wise particularly in Tamil Nadu; (b) the nature of financial and technical assistance provided under each scheme, including for raw material supply, upgraded looms/toolkits, marketing, social security and infrastructure development; (c) the total funds released/sanctioned under these schemes during the last three financial years, State- wise including Tamil Nadu; (d) the specific benefits and support provided to handloom weavers and handicraft artisans under these schemes; (e) whether the Government has taken steps to promote design innovation and marketing linkages and if so, the number and location of Design Resource Centres (DRCs) set up across the country, State-wise including those in Tamil Nadu; and (f) whether the Government proposes any further policy to strengthen the handloom and handicraft sectors in rural and tribal areas, especially in southern States like Tamil Nadu and if so, the details thereof? उत्तर ANSWER वस्त्र मंत्री (श्री गिररराज स हं ) MINISTER OF TEXTILES (SHRI GIRIRAJ SINGH) (a) to (d): The Government of India, Ministry of Textiles is implementing following schemes for the promotion and development of handloom and handicraft sectors in the country, including the State of Tamil Nadu: 1. National Handloom Development Programme; 2. Raw Material Supply Scheme; 3. National Handicraft Development Programme; 4. Comprehensive Handicrafts Cluster Development Scheme; Under the above schemes, financial and technical assistance is provided for raw materials, upgraded looms, accessories and toolkits, design innovation, product diversification, infrastructure development, marketing of handloom and handicraft products in domestic and overseas markets, loans at concessional rates, social security etc., which benefit handloom weavers and handicraft artisans.In the schemes implemented by the Ministry of Textiles in these sectors, budget is not allocated State/UT-wise. Funds to eligible handloom/handicraft agencies are released for various interventions on receipt of viable proposals as per the extant guidelines of the respective schemes. The details of funds released under these schemes of handloom and handicraft sectors across the country including Tamil Nadu during the last three financial years are as follows: (Rs. in crore) Year Funds released 2022-23 428.60 2023-24 465.85 2024-25 486.35 (e): To promote design innovation in Handloom sector, Research and Development projects being administered by Ministry of Textiles include revival and documentation of languishing handloom crafts, experimentation/research on use of new fibres/natural dyes/organic cotton, documentation of existing/developed designs in WSCs etc. Besides, Design Resource Centres (DRCs) have been set up in 16 Weavers’ Service Centres at Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Kolkata, Meerut, Nagpur, Indore, Panipat, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Kancheepuram & Chennai (2 DRCs in Tamil Nadu) across the country to preserve traditional handloom designs and to build and create design-oriented excellence in the Handloom Sector. Moreover, Ministry of Textiles is also being implementing Handloom Marketing Assistance (HMA) scheme across the country to promote marketing linkages in the handloom sector. (f): To strengthen the handloom and handicraft sectors, the Government of India is implementing above schemes across the country including rural, tribal areas and southern States like Tamil Nadu. ****