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Introduction Handloom weaving in India is still largely a household

enterprise, as well as being predominantl y a rural activity (with the exception of Maharashtra). It has conventionally been one of the most

promising sectors of huge employment. In fact, after agriculture,this industry is largest provider of work force. The abundance in the raw materials,

thecontinuous supply of cheap work force is the contributing factors behind the success of the weaving industry of India. However, the liberalization of the

international tradecoupled with change in the reforms of domestic economy, have made affected theweaving industry of India negatively. Despite the fact that

the Indian weaving industryemploys a large section of the Indian population, it is considered as a failing industry.Though this ancient industry of India is

experiencing a bad phase, a large market for weaving products still exist both in the international and domestic market. Themanufacturing of the weaving

products makes a remarkable contribution to the nationalGDP and even in the exports revenue. Estimates over the years have found out that theweaving industry

are supporting some 32 other sectors that include marketing, financial,transportat ion, hotels and even maintenance services. The weaving industry in India hasself-

depending mechanism that includes training the young weavers, abundance of resources and capacities, thereby, helping the industry not to be dependent

on theGovernment. In addition, weaving is ecofriendly, and is aimed at the cutting back on theenvironmental impact.Atpresent the share of the

handloom industry stands at 18.75% of the total cloth production. The major contribution ofhandloom sector is however in terms of

providingemployme nt to 124 lakhs people andthus stands next to agriculture. Out of this, 60% arewomen, 12% SC and 20% ST(Ministry of

Textiles: 2001). There are 38.91 lakhshandlooms in India. Though its sharein total textile exports is 10% (EXIM: 2001), itslabour intensive character,

decentralizednature and optimum utilization of scarce capitalresources give it a unique position in theIndian economy. It weaves a range of fibres likecotton, silk,

tussar, jute, wool andsynthetic blends. The share of textile exports in the totalexports of India has shown an increasing trend and now stands at 35.5%. Thus,

textileshave grown over decades as the single largest foreign exchange earner. This is of greatsignificance taking into account the fact that textile industry has low

import intensity at 2-3%.

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