Directorate of Handlooms and Textiles, Kerala

The Department of Industries and Commerce oversees the Directorate of Handlooms and Textiles, Kerala, which works to design policies for the promotion and growth of the state's handloom and textile industry. In order to protect and promote the State's handloom and textile industries, the Directorate was founded in 1979. In order to prepare the segment to compete in a globalized environment, it is ultimately responsible for supporting the areas of infrastructure, marketing, human resource development, conservation and preservation of traditional skills and products, finance, design input, raw material supply, export, modernization, welfare programs, and price stability. Additionally, it intends to improve the weavers' general skills so that they may use Kerala traditional skills to make high-quality, value-added handloom items for the worldwide market.

The government carries out a number of schemes and offers grants and loans to support the growth of the handloom sector. State and Central governments, as well as other financial organizations like the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), and Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO), offer loans and grants. Additionally, the government offers refunds to support sales promotion. One of the innovative projects that provides handloom school uniform cloth to students of government and aided school. HANVEEV, HANTEX, and District Industries Centers are important participants in this initiative, which is being carried out by the Directorate of Handloom and Textiles. Wages, employment and person days of work have increased as a result of this project.

In order to gain the trust of consumers, the handloom industry established the Kerala Handloom Mark, which endorses the quality of handloom products in terms of raw materials, processing, embellishments, weaving design, and other factors in addition to social and environmental compliance. Ultimately this will provide high quality defect free products to those consumers who are looking niche handmade products. A geographical indicator (GI) is a mark applied to goods that have a particular geographic origin and have attributes or a reputation because of that origin. Geographical Indication has been granted to Kerala handloom products such as Kannur home furnishings, Balaramapuram sarees and fine cotton fabrics, Kasargod sarees, Kuthampully sarees, Chendamangalam dhoties, and Set Mundu. The industry is now working on two massive projects. Chendamangalam Kaithari Gramam in Ernakulam District and Nadukani Printing and Dyeing Unit in Kannur District are the two.