Despite Govt initiatives Kullu shawl industry in downturn mode
01 Apr '09
1 min read
Kullu, one of the most famous hill stations in Himachal Pradesh, India is also well-known for its intrinsic shawls woven on handlooms. Tourists who visit this hill station are mesmerized by the beauty and designs of the shawl,
But the mechanization of the shawl industry in Ludhiana and various variants of shawl now available in the market, has robbed the sheen of this once thriving cottage industry in Himachal Pradesh.
The shawls woven on powerlooms are mostly made from acrylic yarn while those woven in Kullu are still traditionally made from wool. But most of the customers are not able to differentiate between wool and acrylic.
Since producing of hand woven shawls is a time consuming process and pure wool is used, the price is also a little bit on the higher side and Acrylic shawls manufactured on powerlooms are less costly, due to which it has overtaken the markets by sheer pricing.
The government on its part has also undertaken a few steps to revive the lost glory of the wool shawl handloom industry, by marking these shawls with the 'wool' and 'handloom' mark. The Kullu wool shawls have also received the Geographical Indicator, which is akin to a copyright trademark.
-Ltd..jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Thermore (Far East) Ltd.")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (TSllC Ltd)")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF)")
