Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts department Principal Secretary Arabinda Padhee inaugurated the expo at Unit-III Exhibition Ground here. Eminent sculpture Sudarshan Sahoo, Boyanika Managing Director Pranati Chhotray and Boyanika president Prakash Chandra Meher among others were present on the occasion.

The handloom exhibition will continue till October 8. People can visit the expo from 11.30 am to 9.30 pm every day, said an official.

As many as 170 leading handlooms producing organizations, corporations and cooperative societies from Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Bihar, Puducherry and Odisha have opened their stalls at the exhibition, he added.

Boyanika is organizing the expo with an objective to provide a platform to the weavers of Odisha and other states to display and sell their handloom products to the people.

“The expo will facilitate sustainable livelihood to the weavers of different parts of the country as well as Odisha by providing a common platform for marketing their handloom products,” said the official.

The exhibition, sponsored by the Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts department, will enable the weavers of Odisha to interact and exchange their skills with the handlooms producing organizations from other states, added the official.