Low-end silk saree sale corners major share

31 Jan '07

2 min read

As prices of high-end silk sarees have shot-up to almost 40 percent during recent years demand for low-end silk sarees has gone up considerably.

Of the total production of silk sarees almost 80 percent sale worth almost Rs 300 crore is in low-end silk saree segment.

To bring down the cost of production to less than almost 50 percent of the original saree, producers in private sector manufacture sarees with low gold content with more copper content.

This has also encouraged fake sarees being passed off as pure silk sarees and
showrooms that have not yet started selling low-end sarees, consider these sarees to be fake.

Co-optex is also demanding low-end sarees to boost sales as it is becoming difficult to sell them as prices of pure silks have gone up.

Co-optex introduced contractual purchases due to reduced sales whereby it would return unsold goods back to co-operatives.

Off take from cooperatives by Co-optex has climbed down from Rs 9 crore to Rs 4 crore annually, sources at Department of Handlooms informed.

This has resulted into stocks worth Rs 76 crore (8.17 lakh metres) piling up at cooperatives, with new orders to weavers getting reduced, complained trade union leaders.

Officials of Department of Handloom said the unique selling proposition (USP) of co-operatives was high-end sarees and their image would take a beating besides encouraging proliferation of fake sarees if they go in for production of low-end sarees.

Switching over to low-end production will not be possible as societies come under Geographical Indication Register (GIS), which has been instituted to keep fake market under check, informed officials.

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