The Ministry of Textiles has tied up with NDTV Ethnic Retail Ltd to make the India Handloom brand popular among the youth, the Centre announced on Thursday. The venture will promote and launch NDTV’s Indianroots Fashion Accelerator project, which claims to enable innovation in the fashion industry.

The government will support the Indianroots project and help it grow as part of the three-year MoU that was signed on May 10 at Udyog Bhawan, New Delhi. The venture also plans to help fashion designers connect with the handloom sector and the facilities it offers.

Development Commissioner (Handlooms) Alok Kumar said the partnership is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Make in India scheme and the government hopes to connect with younger markets and designers through it.

Modi launched the India Handloom brand August 7, 2015, which was declared the first National Handloom Day. The initiative was aimed at improving the quality of the textile and providing customers defect-free and eco-friendly handloom products. By April 1, 170 handloom producing enterprises were registered under the brand in 41 product categories. Various e-commerce platforms and retail chains have been roped in to market India Handloom-branded merchandise.