Genuine Kancheepuram sarees face stiff competition

13 Apr '10

1 min read

The Kancheepuram silk saree, churned out by the Department of Handlooms and Textiles in Tamil Nadu is witnessing a demand fall of sorts, never seen before, mainly due to competition from the private sector.

The department has organised a sale in the capital of Tamil Nadu; Chennai, where it is giving discounts as high as 45 percent, in a bid to clear the high inventory levels and to maintain flow of working capital.

The main reason for this condition is that the private sector weavers and traders use artificial silk zari and pass off the sarees as pure Kancheepuram silk sarees, which the government agency is unable to do.

These private sector players are able to sell these counterfeit silk sarees at a rate which is far lower than the prices quoted at the stores run by the department, since the cost of a genuine silk saree vastly exceeds the prices of sarees made from art silk.

Experts, whom fibre2fashion spoke to, are of the opinion that the department should initiate a consumer awareness campaign to educate the customer, to know the difference between an art silk and genuine silk Kancheepuram saree.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

More Textiles News - India...