Union Minister of Textiles Shri Giriraj Singh will inaugurate the Centre of Excellence for Handloom Technology (CoE-HT) at IIT Delhi on 3 August 2026, with Union Minister of State for Textiles Shri Pabitra Margherita, Secretary Textiles Smt. Neelam Shami Rao, and Development Commissioner (Handlooms) Dr. M. Beena also attending the ceremony. The Centre represents a Government of India investment of ₹11.99 crore aimed at integrating India's handloom heritage with cutting-edge research, innovation, and digital technologies to strengthen the sector's competitiveness, sustainability, and global outreach.
This national knowledge and innovation hub will bring together academia, industry, designers, technologists, startups, and handloom institutions to develop advanced solutions for the handloom sector. Key focus areas include loom modernization and ergonomics, artificial intelligence applications, sustainability initiatives, functional innovation, digital knowledge systems, and entrepreneurship development. Over the next five years, the Centre will develop a national digital repository of handloom knowledge, create AI-enabled tools, develop improved loom technologies, facilitate patents and research, incubate startups, and train weavers, faculty members, and handloom professionals across India.
The handloom sector currently supports more than 35 lakh weavers and allied workers, with women constituting nearly 70% of the workforce. The Centre addresses challenges relating to productivity, technology adoption, traceability, authenticity, sustainability, and market competitiveness through research, innovation, capacity building, and technology transfer.
Five flagship initiatives were launched: Handloom 4.0 serves as a digital companion for every loom enabling productivity and sustainability assessment; Handloom e-Vidya provides problem-linked digital learning and knowledge solutions; HandloomX operates as an accelerator and incubation platform for startups across the handloom value chain; Kalagriha Handloom Studio (GenZ Design Studio) connects handloom with next-generation consumers through digital visualization and customization; and Threads of Valour promotes circularity by transforming recycled defence textiles into premium handloom products.