Union Minister of Textiles Shri Giriraj Singh inaugurated the Centre of Excellence for Handloom Technology (CoE-HT) at IIT Delhi on August 3, 2026, representing a significant government effort to modernize India's handloom sector through technology, innovation, and research. The event was attended by senior officials including Smt. Neelam Shami Rao (Secretary, Ministry of Textiles), Dr. M. Beena (Development Commissioner for Handlooms), Smt. Amrit Raj (Development Commissioner for Handicrafts), and IIT Delhi leadership including Prof. Arvind K. Nema (Director-in-charge) and Prof. Ashwini Agrawal (Dean).
Minister Singh emphasized that the Centre represents the government's vision of combining India's rich weaving heritage with cutting-edge technologies to create a future-ready handloom ecosystem, with innovation, digital technologies, sustainability, and entrepreneurship playing crucial roles in improving productivity, enhancing market access, and ensuring better livelihoods for handloom weavers.
Five flagship initiatives were launched during the event: the Handloom 4.0 Mobile App for digital monitoring of loom productivity, quality, maintenance and sustainability; Handloom e-Vidya as a comprehensive digital learning and knowledge platform for capacity building; HandloomX, an accelerator and incubation platform supporting startups and innovators across the Ministry's 5F value chain; Kalagriha Handloom Studio (GenZ Design Studio) leveraging digital technologies to connect contemporary consumers with authentic handloom products through customization and visualization; and Threads of Valour, a sustainability initiative that transforms recycled defence textiles into premium handloom fabrics through scientific recycling and skilled craftsmanship.
The Centre of Excellence will undertake research in loom modernization, ergonomics, artificial intelligence, sustainability, functional innovation, and digital technologies. It will develop a national repository of handloom knowledge, create AI-enabled tools, facilitate technology transfer, support startups, and train at least 1,000 weavers, faculty members, and handloom professionals over the next five years. The establishment reinforces the Ministry of Textiles' commitment to preserving India's handloom heritage while equipping the sector with advanced technologies, research capabilities, and innovation-led solutions.