VIJAYAWADA: Minister for Handlooms and Textiles, Atchannaidu Kinjarapu inaugurated the APCO Amaravati handloom expo, here in the city on Friday. He said that the new swanky showroom of APCO would soon be selling jewellery, along with designer and handloom wears.Addressing the gathering present on the occasion, the minister said that the State government was taking various initiatives to support the handloom weavers in the State.
“A financial assistance - upto Rs 50,000 - will be given to the weavers under Mudra loans. By developing handloom clusters we would be able to train the weavers in manufacturing designer clothing. We will also provide looms and other material free of cost for all the trained weavers. We are also providing 20 percent subsidy to the weavers on the purchase of threads,” he said.
Divisional manager of APCO T Narasimha Murthy said, “We built the new showroom with an investment of close to Rs 50 lakhs and it is fully air-conditioned. We had also introduced the latest designs in Uppada, Venkatagiri, Dharmavaram, Mangalagiri, Pochampally sarees and bed sheets. We are also selling the ready-made shirts and other clothing items at a discount of 30 percent.”