Revitalising A Traditional Industry In India

Unlocking barriers across the value chain to create jobs, securing livelihoods and preserving traditional crafts.

Xynteo was approached by an Indian mining organisation to create an innovative intervention model that supports local communities.

The opportunity

Silk reeling and handloom weaving is a traditional artform in parts of India. But, in recent decades, artisans have been moving away from this artform due to certain value chain challenges.

Unlocking barriers across the value chain could be transformative at creating jobs, securing livelihoods and preserving traditional crafts. With an objective to positively impact the communities in the areas that they operate in a mining major embarked on this project.

The solution

The vision of this ongoing initiative is to realise the full potential of a specific textile industry and ensure that it claims its rightful position in the domestic and global market by creating sustainable livelihood opportunities and improve the income levels of reelers and weavers by ~ 2x in five years.

Through a locally-based programme of interventions, the project aims to significantly strengthened the entire value chain right from farming to weaving of finished products. This included institutionalising the setup through formation of a social enterprise, design and product interventions, training and capacity building of artisans and creating direct market linkages and passing the benefits to the artisans.

The results

A social enterprise and foundation was established in January 2021, as well as development of a first-of-its-kind training centre near the mine location for training reelers. 

Multiple collections have since been launched generating a revenue of $50,000 in 2021, impacting 110 beneficiaries and generating income $13,000 for artisans. The vision of the enterprise is to scale to 1,550 artisans in the next five years and double their income levels.

Xynteo studios

During this project, expertise, support and leadership was provided by our Studio operating model.​ Learn more about how our Studios can help your organisation grow forward.