The Kerala State Handloom Weavers Co-Operative Society Ltd (HANTEX)

HANTEX is the apex body for handloom cooperatives in the state. It began operations in 1961 to support handloom weaving societies in the cooperative sector. HANTEX oversees 518 primary production centers and maintains 150 showrooms to market their products. The organization is supported by a computer-aided design division and 150 imported textile machines. The headquarters of HANTEX is at Thiruvananthapuram. The main aim of HANTEX is to market the products of member societies and thus support the livelihood of handloom weavers. At present there are 405 handloom societies are registered under HANTEX and more than ten thousand weavers are working for HANTEX. Hantex has around 340 permanent/temporary employees working in several departments. They are marketing the products through Hantex's 69 showrooms all over the state. Besides headquarters, there are four regional offices, five production centres, two weaving units, one processing unit and an international garment unit are working under HANTEX.

During 2024-25, HANTEX achieved an income of Rs 1748.60 lakhs from sales. Sale during 2023-24 was Rs 2286.03 lakhs. The paid-up capital at the end of the year 2024-25 was Rs.7199.74 lakh. The agency has reported losses from 2019-20 onwards. The accumulated loss of HANTEX is increasing annually and has reached around Rs 24790.91 lakh by the end of financial year 2024-25. Sales turnover has increased from financial year 2020-21 to 2023-24, however it had declined in 2024-25. As part of modernisation and value addition of fabrics made from handlooms, a full-fledged garments unit with state of the art facility is working at Thiruvananthapuram. HANTEX has launched new shirts in linen and cotton under the brand name ‘Royal Mint’ and ‘Commando’. Also Ladies churidar tops and kids shirts has launched under the brand name ‘Kemi’ and ‘Junior Commando’. The new born babies products are also launched in the brand name ‘Tara’ and ‘Vavo’. The E-credit card scheme was introduced to attract employees in the Government as well as banking sector as its customers. During the 2024-25, HANTEX has renovated the Kannur SPS, North Paravoor showroom and Payyannur Showroom, which has turned into a modern and customer oriented showrooms.