The silk board believes that the new experiment will not only help promote Indian silk but also help beat the double whammy of the economic slowdown and slump in demand.

'Due to the recession, the demand for Indian silk has gone down drastically. Exports have fallen by about Rs.1,000 crore in the last one year. It has hurt about 63 lakh (6.3 million) people working in this sector. Weavers are the worst hit as most of them are poor,' said Hanumanthappa.

The silk board is gearing up to not only raise demand in the domestic market but also to face competition from China.

'Cheap Chinese silk is giving us stiff competition. Considering the slump in demand in both domestic and foreign markets, this is like salt in a raw wound,' he said.

Faced with the situation, the ministry of textiles has taken an initiative to promote the 'Silk Mark', an official mark or series of marks on items made of silk, on the lines of 'Hallmark' for precious metals and 'Woolmark' for wool and woollen products.

'Sometimes silk traders cheat consumers by peddling cheap imitations. We are hallmarking silk products to differentiate pure silk from fake silk. All products made of pure silk will carry the Silk Mark,' said textiles ministry secretary Rita Menon.

(Byomakesh Biswal can be contacted at byomakesh.b@ians.in)