1.26 crore Dhotis, 99.56 lakh sarees to be produced for Pongal

A production order has been given for the production of 1.26 crore Dhotis and 99.56 lakh sarees through power looms for free distribution to family card holders for Pongal festival.  Handloom Department Commissioner T.B. Rajesh said  ''An amount of Rs.243.96 crore has been allocated for production. Dhotis and saree production is planned to start on October 1st and end on December 31st. For this, a target of 99,56,683 sarees has been set for powerloom production. 

49,46,683 sarees from 11,420 looms in Erode, 35.45 lakh sarees from 6,600 looms in Tiruchengode, 9.30 lakh sarees from 1,744 looms in Coimbatore, 5.25 lakh sarees from 1,605 looms in Tirupur, 10,000 sarees from 20 looms in Tirunelveli.A total of 21,389 looms have been ordered to produce 99,56,683 sarees. 

Dhotis: 56,78,804 Dhotis from  8,567 looms in Erode, 54 Dhotis from 6,500 looms in Tiruchengode, 8.20 lakh Dhotis from 1,080 looms in Coimbatore, 6.37 lakh Dhotis from 1,228 looms in Tirupur, 83,200 vettis from 80 looms in Tamil Nadu Panchalai Kazhagam.  Totalling  157,45 looms have been given orders to manufacture1,26,19,004 Dhotis. Local weavers said: Usually 1.83 crore Dhotis and 1.83 crore sarees are produced and delivered.

Due to production delay last year, there is a stock of up to 50 lakh Dhotis and 50 lakh sarees.
Due to this , less production orders have been given this year. In the first phase, 
only 3,000 bags of yarn have come through 6 cooperative spinning mills. Border yarn and weft yarn for Dhotis have not arrived yet.  The yarn for saree production is not fully arrived. As far as the government is concerned, free Dhoti and saree production work was started from Oct 1.

But, it is difficult to complete this work within 3 months by power  loom, hand loom and pedal loom weavers.  If the production order is given in June or July, it can be fully produced and the weavers will also get work for up to 6 months, they said.