Vijayawada: Giving a big relief to handloom weavers who are facing marketing problems, the APCO and Tamil Nadu state’s Cooptex signed an MoU on Friday to sell the handloom products worth Rs 9.2 crore of both the states in their respective show rooms. Minister for handlooms and textiles S Savitha and Tamil Nadu handloom minister R Gandhi signed the agreement.

It may be noted that the state government has been making efforts to increase marketing facilities to handloom products and as part of it, is giving training to weavers on new designs and organising exhibitions nationwide.

As part of the initiative to promote handloom sector minister Savitha participated in a buyer and seller meet organised here on Friday along with Tamil Nadu minister R Gandhi and went round the stalls of both Apco and Cooptex.

Tamil Nadu government secretary, handlooms, V Amrutavalli, director Megheswari Ravikumar, AP handlooms commissioner Rekha Rani and officials were present.

With the initiative of both the AP and TN governments, the weavers of both states will get benefitted. Now the AP weavers will get an opportunity to sell their products through Cooptex show rooms and likewise, the TN weavers will get facility to sell their products in Apco show rooms.

Apart from APCO and Co-Optex, the handloom products would be sold in the other establishments across the two states. Tirucharapally, Madurai, Tiruichengode Circle, Autobindo Textiles, Salem Circle, Sudarsan Silks, Erode Circle, Balabhadra Narasimha Murthy and other establishments participated in other agreements to sell the handloom products.

The state government had decided to sign similar MoUs with the handloom corporations of other states across the country.