Bhubaneswar: The 20th National level Handloom Expo-2021 was inaugurated at IDCO Exhibition Ground, Unit-III in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday. It will continue till 17th February.
Padmini Dian, Minister, Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts, Odisha inaugurated the Expo in presence of Ashok Chandra Panda, Minister, Science and Technology, Public Enterprisers, Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disability, Ananta Narayan Jena, MLA, Bhubaneswar (Central), Subha Sarma, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts Department, Jyoti Prakash Das, Director of Textiles and Handloom, Odisha and managing Director, Boyanika and officials of the Department and Directorate.
Odisha State Handloom Weavers Co-op Society Ltd., the apex society of the State for marketing of hand-wovens, being declared as Implementing Agency on behalf of Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts Department, Government of Odisha is organising the Expo for providing a common platform for marketing of their handloom products of different states of the country as well as facilitating sustainable livelihood to the weavers.
This Expo is sponsored by Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts Department, Government of Odisha.
As many as 134 numbers of stalls are opened in this mela, out of which 84 stalls are meant for State participants and rest for outside states, leading PWCS of State of Odisha, leading handloom organisations i.e. Apex and Corporations and major handloom clusters from 17 States of the Country like New Delhi, Uttarpradesh, Hariyana, J&K, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Puduchery, Tamilnadu, Telengana, Karnatak, Maharastra, Bihar, Rajsthan, West Bengal are participating in this Expo.
The Expo will remain open from 11.30 AM to 9.30 PM daily. All ranges of handwovens of our country are available in this fair for the customers.
This Expo will be very enchanting for the weaver participants as they will get chance to interact with each other on new designs, new skills and techniques, which will enhance their know-hows for product diversification and for better earning.
All precautionary measures have been taken for adhering to the Covid guideline in this Mela. Last year, the Expo has achieved sales of Rs., 9.50 Crore. This year business of more than Rs. 10 Crore is expected.
Boyanika is committed for all round socio economic development of the weavers of the State. This organisation is implementing various developmental programmes for the welfare of weavers of the State. Boyanika has been exploring every new horizon of markting for upliftment of Handloom industry of the State.
Ms Kalinga