National Handloom Day celebrated grandly at APCO

By Our Special Correspondent

Industries, IT, Commerce, Handloom and Textiles Minister Gudivada Amarnath said on Sunday that steps are being taken to set up AAPCO mega showrooms across the state on the lines of shops in Hyderabad, Delhi and Kolkata.

He said that there is a good recognition and demand for handloom and silk fabrics across the country.

He was speaking at the state level 8th National Handloom Day celebrations at Zilla Parishad Hall. He said that we are aiming to sell handloom cloths worth Rs.100 crore in the next year across the state.

Mentioning that these celebrations are being held in all 26 districts of the state, he said that after agriculture, the handloom sector is the largest employer in the country. He said that one lakh 30 thousand handloom workers are working directly in the state and another 70 thousand people are living depending on this sector.

In the last three years, Rs.567.07 crores has been spent for the development of handloom under the 'YSR Netanna' scheme in the state. The minister said that 49 lakhs worth of handloom cloths have been sold through e-commerce and Mega Apco showrooms are coming up in Visakhapatnam.