India Celebrates 12th National Handloom Day with Digital Push

India celebrated the 12th National Handloom Day on August 7, 2026, commemorating the 1905 Swadeshi movement's boycott of foreign goods. Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, urged citizens to popularize the country's textile diversity by sharing videos of handloom products on social media using the #NationalHandloomDay hashtag and the 'Get Ready With Me' trend.

Main celebrations took place at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre in New Delhi, where President Droupadi Murmu served as the Chief Guest. The Ministry of Textiles presented 22 Sant Kabir and National Handloom Awards for 2025, released four commemorative postage stamps, and unveiled two publications. The government highlighted that the sector supports over 35 lakh people, with women making up more than 70 percent of the workforce.

Union Minister of Textiles Giriraj Singh framed the sector as a strategic pillar for the 'Viksit Bharat 2047' vision. To transition handloom from a welfare activity to a competitive industry, the government is launching the National Handloom and Handicraft Programme to strengthen 1,800 clusters across 500 districts. This initiative, alongside the 'Handloom 4.0' AI project and the development of ergonomic looms via the Centre of Excellence for Handloom Technology, aims to increase weaver incomes to a target of Rs 50,000 per month through better branding and direct global market access.