Amritsar shawl makers innovating with designs

Shawl makers in Amritsar are planning to tie up with design houses for diversification and introduction of innovative designs. This is an effort to fight dwindling sales. Changing consumer preferences have affected the industry. Youngsters are losing interest in shawls and preferring other hosiery products like jackets, pullovers over shawls. Since youngsters form the majority of population, sales have been affected.

Shuttle-less looms are coming in place of traditional looms. However, there are still some 1,500 traditional looms in use compared to 300 new age ones. The introduction of shuttle-less looms with Italian electronic jacquards has revolutionised the quality and pace of work. Further, in comparison to traditional looms, shuttle-less looms manufacture fabrics of superior quality.

India annually exports shawls and stoles worth Rs 600 crores, of this Amritsar has the lion’s share. Amritsar has some 150 to 200 units. To meet rising local demand, many units are planning to expand, but there are bottlenecks. Although there is no customs duty on imported new machines, the government does not provide a subsidy under the Technology Upgradation Fund scheme. The scheme is valid only for old machines. Manufacturers say it should be applicable to new machines, so that they can be installed.