Work on a ₹44.69-crore handloom silk park at Periyannainallur village near Arani in Tiruvannamalai is progressing fast, with the facility expected to be ready by December.
Officials of the Handlooms Department said that the original proposal for the project came up way back in 2015 after registration of Arni Handloom Silk Park was registered under the Companies Act. Since then, identification of adequate land for the silk park has remained a major challenge to kickstart the project. The work for the new park was started in February 2026.
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“Of the total ₹44.69 crore, the new facility is being built at a cost of ₹23.50 crore. Remaining cost will be spent on procurement of equipment and other facilities at the new park, which will help to manufacture around two lakh kilograms of handloom every year,” K. Senthil Kumar, Assistant Director (AD), Department of Handlooms (Tiruvannamalai), told The Hindu.
Along with district handloom officials and weavers, T.N. Venketasan, Principal Secretary, Ministry for Handlooms and Textiles, inspected the ongoing work of the park. He also interacted with weavers and visited handlooms in Arani town.
Handlooms officials said after Kancheepuram, the new silk park in Arani will be the second such facility for handlooms weavers in Tamil Nadu. It will help at least 14,000 handloom weavers in the region to sell their products for domestic and international buyers. “The new park will help us to promote Arani silk sarees to the global market. Also, the facility will provide a platform for weavers on new designs,” said G. Ramu, a weaver.
Spread over 11.09 acres, the Arni Handloom Silk Park will be a one-stop facility for traditional weavers to manufacture newer design sarees. The new facility will have separate units for each process of saree manufacturing such as warp sizing and pirn winding.
In the first phase, around 780 handlooms units will be operated in 13 handloom sheds in the new facility. Each handloom unit will be around 200 sq.ft. About 1,500 kilos of raw silk will be dyed per day for the 14,000 weavers at the new park.
The new park will have a design studio where experts would share ideas on new designs to weavers. It will also have a training centre that would impart training in designing, weaving, twisting and dyeing to weavers.
For weavers, the new facility will help them to get higher wages. Also, weavers will have a fixed work schedule of eight hours a day. They can also run handlooms in their houses to supplement their income. Weavers can also display a range of silk sarees made by them at display and selling arena in the new park.
Published - June 22, 2026 06:21 pm IST
Source: The Hindu - India News
