With the Sankranti festival approaching, the Andhra Pradesh State Handloom Weavers’ Cooperative Society (APCO) will launch large-scale discount sales across the state, offering handloom products at discounts of 60, 50 and 40 percent, State Handlooms and Textiles Minister S. Savita announced on Tuesday.

Chairing a review meeting with Handlooms and Textiles Department officials at her camp office in Tadepalli, the Minister said special counters would be set up to boost festive sales and support the handloom sector. As part of the initiative, 60 percent discount counters will be opened at the Handlooms Assistant Director’s office premises in Guntur and at Yerrabalem in Mangalagiri. In Vijayawada, the APCO Mega Showroom will offer handloom products at a 50 percent discount, while all other APCO showrooms across the state will provide a 40 percent discount until Sankranti. Special discount counters will be operational from December 29, with wide publicity planned to attract customers.

Urging people to celebrate the festival in a traditional manner, the Minister appealed to households to wear handloom garments during Sankranti, stating that it would directly benefit weaver families.

Savita also directed officials to begin procurement of handloom products from cooperative societies within the next two days. She said items in high demand should be purchased immediately and supplied directly to APCO showrooms within a fixed timeline.

Handlooms and Textiles Commissioner Rekha Rani informed the Minister that proposals worth ₹99.60 crore have been submitted to the Centre under the National Handloom Development Programme for mega clusters, infrastructure projects, a handloom museum in Amaravati and the development of 30 APCO showrooms. The Minister instructed officials to ensure early approvals.

In view of the Vaikuntha Ekadasi festivities, Savita announced that a handloom exhibition will be held at the DPR Convention Hall in Tirupati from December 26 to January 7 and directed officials to ensure extensive promotion of the event.