SRINAGAR: Kashmir’s centuries-old Pashmina craft received a significant boost on Wednesday with the inauguration of the Animal Fibre Quality Assurance Laboratory at SKUAST-Kashmir’s Shuhama campus, a facility aimed at tackling adulteration and restoring global trust in the prized fabric.
Union Textiles Secretary Neelam Shami Rao, who inaugurated the lab, described Pashmina as the “gold standard” of India’s natural fibres and said the government was committed to protecting its purity and sanctity. “Certification, numbering, and coding must be smarter so that every labelled product is traceable. In the next two to three years, we should have reliable data on the number of genuine Pashmina products entering the market,” she said.
The new facility, Rao said, would ensure that producers no longer need to rely on distant labs in Delhi, Dehradun or even overseas for fibre testing. “The capacity of existing labs must be augmented, and if more are required, the Textiles Ministry will infuse additional funds,” she announced.
The Secretary added that her ministry is coordinating with Customs, the Bureau of Indian Standards, and the Ministry of Environment and Forests to evolve a consensus-driven framework that balances industry requirements with animal welfare concerns.
A major focus, she underlined, will be branding and positioning. The government is working on a unified Pashmina branding initiative under the “Bharat Ka Fabric” campaign, which will integrate GI tagging and certification under a single label. “Pashmina is not just a Kashmir story; it is India’s story. We will promote it globally through multi-forum branding, sourcing magazines, and digital platforms,” she said.
At the heart of the ministry’s push, Rao emphasised, is the artisan. She noted that craftspeople currently receive only a small fraction of the final market value of Pashmina products and stressed the need for direct benefits. “What is niche must remain niche and be promoted as luxury. Upskilling must be continuous. If the artisan perishes, the art perishes,” she remarked.
She also assured that stakeholder concerns on certification and standardisation would be addressed within two months through inter-ministerial consultations, with a roadmap expected by the end of this quarter.
The launch of the laboratory was accompanied by an exhibition of local Pashmina products and a stakeholder interaction, during which industry voices raised issues of diversification, branding, and export promotion. SKUAST-K Vice Chancellor Nazir Ahmad Khan said the lab would evolve into a Centre of Excellence that combines science with Kashmir’s craft heritage.
Later in the day, Rao shifted focus to Kashmir’s famed hand-knotted carpets while distributing Modified Modern Steel Carpet Looms among artisan clusters at the Indian Institute of Carpet Technology (IICT) in Srinagar under the Integrated Wool Development Programme. Calling carpet weaving another unique Kashmiri craft that needed revival, she urged the UT government to submit more proposals for upgrading testing and certification facilities.
She stressed the need to preserve traditional designs while also incorporating contemporary patterns to enhance the global appeal of Kashmiri carpets. Visiting IICT’s training studios and laboratories, Rao expressed interest in scaling up its testing infrastructure and assured full support for procuring state-of-the-art machines to ensure authenticity in both Pashmina and carpet products.
During the event, the Union Secretary interacted with award-winning artisans and budding entrepreneurs, underlining that government schemes must secure both the heritage and the future of Kashmir’s craft sector.
