Ministry of Textiles Launches Handloom Hackathon 2026 to Strengthen India’s Handloom Sector

Key facts

• The Ministry of Textiles has launched the Handloom Hackathon 2026, a national innovation challenge designed to harness technology, design, and entrepreneurship for the handloom sector.
• The initiative is being organised as part of the National Handloom Day 2026 celebrations, with online registrations open until 20th July 2026.
• Target participants for the challenge include students, innovators, startups, researchers, designers, entrepreneurs, and handloom practitioners who can register via www.youthideathon.in/handloom.
• The grand finale of the hackathon is scheduled to take place on 1st August 2026 at the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT), Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi.
• Development Commissioner Handlooms, Dr. M. Beena, stated that the initiative aims to generate practical and scalable solutions to enhance the competitiveness and sustainable growth of the sector.