Binjhua village is located in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, India. Mayurbhanj district is one of the largest districts of Odisha and covers the entire north-eastern tribal region of the state. Binjhua was famous for the production of Tussar yarn and Tussar silk material. The females of Patara communityof Binjhua were involved in production of Tussar yarn and the males in weaving Tussar silk. The skilled weavers of the area then decided to start a society namely ‘Binjhua Tussar Weaver Cooperative Society’ which became famous in Odisha for its Tussar Silk products. Overtime, the society was also closed due to mismanagement, obsolete technology and the traditional process of production. Keeping the afore mentioned things in view, the Binjhua Tussar Handloom Cluster was proposed for the revival of the traditional Tussar work, for providing the artisans a sustainable livelihood and also to cater to the increasing demand of the Tussar handloom products in domestic as well as international market.
The cluster focuses on yarn products like fine dry yarn, wet yarn, ghicha and spinned yarn as these products have a huge market demand. 50 % of the yarn produced will be sold as raw materials in the market and rest will be used for the production of the finished Tussar silk products. The cluster is also focusing on handloom products like Saree, Gamchas, Dupattas and fabrics. This cluster has tie up with Silk Board, Bangalore for imparting quality training to artisans. Various looms of recent technologies are there to meet up market requirements.
As a technical agency, KIIT-TBI has made enormous contributions to establish this cluster and product development. 1233 artisans are getting benefited through this cluster intervention and average income is expected to get tripled. This cluster is also an important step towards our prime minister’s vision of ‘Make in India’ scheme. Profit generation through this cluster will also be used in betterment of healthcare and educational facilities in nearby areas.