Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal on Saturday called for increasing handloom exports to Rs 10,000 crore and doubling the production to Rs 1.25 lakh crore in the next three years with a view to promoting the growth of the sector.

       At present, handloom exports are worth Rs 2,500 crore and production is about Rs 60,000 crore.

       "Let us today all resolve collectively on this day that we will go for a Rs 10,000 crore target for exports of handloom products and a target to increase our production to Rs 1.25 lakh crore in the next three years," he said at the National Handloom Day celebrations.

       He also suggested forming a team under the chairmanship of Sunil Sethi of Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) consisting of weavers, trainers, equipment makers, marketing experts and other stakeholders to recommend ways and means to promote the growth of the sector.

       The sector should become strong and prosper without depending much on state support, Goyal said.

       "We have to look for new ways to boost handloom production and explore new markets," he added.

       Speaking at the event, Textiles Secretary U P Singh said the ministry is working on ways to ensure artisans and weavers get the right price for their products.

       "We are trying to onboard more and more handloom players on GeM (government e-marketplace). Over 1.5 lakh handloom weavers are there on GeM," he said.

       (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)