Hand knitting back in biz, courtesy millennials

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 27

There has been a huge resurgence in hand knitting business, courtesy millennials, especially hobby seekers, as they look for ways to pass time at home since the outbreak of Covid pandemic last year. The young generation has not only learnt the skill of knitting by using yarns but many of them have carved new businesses by retailing the knitted products on social media platforms.

Industry witnesses 15-20% growth

Last fiscal was extraordinary. Amid the pandemic, hand-knitted yarn manufacturers saw 15-20% growth due to robust demand — Amit Thapar, President, Ganga acrowools ltd

“I have grown up watching my grandmother knitting sweaters and scarves for us, but never thought of learning the skill. However, during the lockdown, I learnt the skill and made woollen muffler and sweater for myself,” says 28-year-old Nisha Anand from Jalandhar.

With many joining the bandwagon, it was an unusual year for Punjab-based hand-knitted yarn (wool) industry as it witnessed a double-digit growth in 2020-21 against a negative growth of 5% in 2019-20. The size of the hand-knitted yarn industry in India is around Rs 350-Rs 400 crore and mainly concentrated in Punjab.

The demand for yarn comes from two categories — hobby seekers and professional knitters. While the former contributes 30-35% to the total demand, the latter contributes 60-65%. The market size of hand-knitted wool yarn is around 12,000 tonnes.

“People still enjoy using handmade products. However, at the same time, many new entrants forayed into the segment and started retailing through e-commerce and social media platforms bringing competition,” said Nivesh Arora, co-founder, Sonepat-based Ajoobaa, an apparel startup.