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3.90 Kerala State Bamboo Mission (KSBM) is designated as the Bamboo Development Agency Industry and Labour
(BDA) of the State for implementation of the various schemes of the National Bamboo Mission (NBM),
under the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India,
New Delhi. KSBM has four Sub-Committees for Propagation of Bamboo, Technology Intervention
and Research & Development, Marketing & Livelihood and Design & Training.
For ensuring effective implementation and monitoring of the Schemes, State Bamboo Steering
Committee (SBSC) was constituted with the Additional Chief Secretary (Forest & Wildlife) as its
Chairman.

Textile Industry

3.91 The Indian Textile Industry plays a significant role in the economic growth of the country through
its contribution to industrial output, employment generation, and export earnings. Kerala’s textile
industry comprises of traditional handloom sector, powerloom sector, weaving and spinning sector.

Handloom Sector

3.92 In India, handloom weaving is one of the largest economic activities after agriculture providing
direct and indirect employment to more than 43 lakh weavers and allied workers. This sector
contributes nearly 11% of the cloth production in the country and also contributes to the export
earning of the country. In fact, 95% of the world’s hand woven fabric is produced in India. The
handloom sector has a unique place in our economy and its strength lies in its uniqueness, flexibility
of production, openness to innovations, adaptability to the supplier’s requirement and the wealth of
its tradition. (Source: Annual Report 2013-14 of Textile Ministry). The share of Kerala in the national
handloom industry remains relatively small even as compared with other Southern states, namely
Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

3.93 The Handloom Sector in Kerala stands second to the coir sector in providing employment among
the traditional industries of the State. The Handloom Industry in the State is mainly concentrated
in Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur District and in some parts of Kozhikode, Palakkad, Thrissur,
Ernakulam, Kollam and Kasaragod Districts. The Industry is dominated by the Co-operative sector,
covering 97% of total looms. The remaining three per cent of Handlooms units are owned by
Industrial entrepreneurs. The Co-operative sector consists of factory type and cottage type societies.
The number of registered Primary Handloom Weavers Co-operative Societies in the State as on
November, 2014 is 705 as against 664 during March 2013. Of this, 171 are factory type and 534 are
Cottage type societies. Of these 705 societies, 426 are in working condition as in November 2014.
The number of factory type Co-operative Societies functioning at present is 107 (63%) and cottage
type societies is 319 (60%). Details are given in Appendix 3.37

3.94 The major varieties of products produced in the handloom sector of the State are dhothis,
furnishing material, bed sheets, shirting, saree and lungi. These items contribute about 67% of the
total production of handlooms sector. About 80% of the major items are produced in the southern
region followed by Northern region (12%) and Central region (5%). Of the total production, nearly 95%
is contributed by the co-operative sector and the balance of 5 % is by the units in the entrepreneurial
sector.

3.95 Government Assistance extended for the development of handloom industry, ` 391.38 lakh by
way of loan and ` 1747.71 lakh by way of grant in 2013-14 is shown in Appendix 3.38.

3.96 The total value of production shows a decrease of 6% from 222.87 crores in 2012-13 to 210.57
crores in 2013-14. The total number of weavers employed shows a sharp decrease from 51171

Economic Review 2014