Centre to Launch Inaugural Weavers' Service Centre in Meghalaya, says Giriraj Singh
- Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh announced a WSC for Meghalaya to support design, training, and market access once land is allotted.
- The new Integrated Textile & Tourism Centre will serve as a hub for training, innovation, silk processing, product diversification, and textile tourism.
- Centre plans to expand Muga crops (from 2 to 3 per year) to double farmers’ income, strengthening the Northeast’s role as India’s natural silk powerhouse.
In a significant push to boost the textile sector in the Northeast, Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh announced that a new Weavers’ Service Centre will be established in Meghalaya once the state government allots land for the project. Currently, there is only one centre in the Northeast, which is located in Guwahati.
The announcement came during the inauguration of the Integrated Textile & Tourism Centre (ITTC) at Nongpoh in Ri-Bhoi district, where the minister also launched ‘EKTA’ Meghalaya (Exhibition-cum-Knowledge Sharing for Textiles Advantage). Singh said the proposed WSC would offer comprehensive design, technical, and marketing support to weavers across the region, helping them upgrade skills and access wider markets.
The ITTC's mandate was highlighted by Singh, who said that the centre would be an integrated platform for training, design innovation, silk processing, product diversification, and textile tourism. The initiative shall help weavers and artisans tap opportunities at national and international levels, he added.
The minister stressed that the Centre is implementing various schemes to modernise weaving technologies, strengthen handloom clusters and promote natural fibres at the global level. Terming the Northeast as the “pride of India’s textile heritage”, Singh recalled the Union government’s commitment to strengthening every segment of the textile value chain in the region.
Giriraj Singh announced new initiatives for increasing farmers' income by expanding Muga sericulture in Meghalaya and the greater Northeast. "We are exploring the possibility of increasing from two Muga crops to three, enabling farmers to double their income. With best practices, one acre can generate Rs 4-5 lakh", he said. He added that the Central Silk Board would collaborate with the Meghalaya sericulture department to advance the initiative.
Emphasising that India is the world's only producer of all major silk varieties Muga, Tasar, Mulberry and Eri Singh said scaling up Muga and Eri production in the Northeast would place India as a global leader in natural silk, especially since other countries are moving towards synthetic fibres.
Union Minister of State for Textiles Pabitra Margherita said Northeastern artisans have a strong presence on the international platform and recalled how a weaver from a remote village in Meghalaya had presented handwoven fabric at BharatTex, one of the largest textile exhibitions in the world.
He pointed out that 52 percentage of India's handlooms are in the Northeast, while announcing that all textile ministers from across the country will hold a meeting next month in Guwahati to work out a Northeast specific textile road map.
Meghalaya Textiles Minister Metbah Lyngdoh hailed ITTC as a transformative project, one that would empower artisans, revive the state's rich silk traditions and establish Nongpoh as a key textile-tourism destination. He said the centre, being developed under the North East Regional Textile Promotion Scheme, has been conceptualised as an artisan hub, a living textile museum and an innovation space. The new facility was a major step in the continuing “textile renaissance” of Meghalaya, added State Principal Secretary (Textiles) Frederick Kharkongor.
