Revitalizing Sualkuchi’s Textile Heritage through Policy-Driven Innovation: A Case Study of Sualkuchi Institute of Fashion Technology (SIFT)

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-533-1_40How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Textile Heritage; Handloom; Government-supported Innovation; Women Weavers; Sustainability; Community; SIFT; Sualkuchi

Abstract

Sualkuchi, renowned as the “Manchester of Assam,” is one of India’s distinctive handloom clusters, known for Muga, Pat, and Eri silk. However, owing to market competition and declining transmission of traditional knowledge, the sector has faced significant challenges in recent decades. This paper explores how government-supported innovation, facilitated through the Sualkuchi Institute of Fashion Technology (SIFT), has contributed to revitalizing Sualkuchi’s textile heritage. Established under the Kamrup District Administration, Government of Assam in collaboration with the North Eastern Council and NIFT, Kolkata, SIFT runs with government support, corporate funding, and community participation. It represents a policy-driven intervention by the government, aimed at skill development, design innovation, and sustainable livelihood generation of the region. Using a qualitative case study approach, the research examines how government policies and schemes contribute to the innovation in the handloom industry in terms of sustainability and empowerment of local weavers. The paper also explores how SIFT has contributed to long-term environmental and economic sustainability of the textile heritage in Sualkuchi with the help of a collaborative CSR-based model. Through policy analysis and interviews with few SIFT officials, the study investigates how government schemes have facilitated in transforming innovative crafts into commercially viable businesses. SIFT is studied as a model for policy-led cultural innovation in Assam’s handloom sector, driven by the factors of sustainability, creativity, and community to preserve traditional knowledge in the global textile economy.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Akangsha Kalita
AU  - Susmita Hazarika
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/31
TI  - Revitalizing Sualkuchi’s Textile Heritage through Policy-Driven Innovation: A Case Study of Sualkuchi Institute of Fashion Technology (SIFT)
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Smart Systems and Social Management (ICSSSM-2 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 689
EP  - 697
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-533-1_40
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-533-1_40
ID  - Kalita2025
ER  -