Coimbatore : A four-day textile fair is being organised at nearby Erode from December 5 to focus on promoting the powerloom and handloom industries to both domestic and foreign buyers.

The first edition of ‘Weaves’ would have participation of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Vietnam, the UAE, Dubai, Kenya and South Africa, besides weaving communities from Banaras, Surat and Dharmavaram, Texvalley vice-chairman C Devarajan told reporters here on Friday.

The fair was being organised jointly by Confederation of Indian Industry and Texvalley, an integrated textiles market, and expected to generate a business of Rs 800 crore, he said.

As the weaving segment did not have enough exposure to market their products the organisers consulted members of more than 88 clusters in the State before embarking on the event.

More than 250 exhibitors had confirmed their participation, with exhibits like premium greige, processing and finishing, ethnic wear and knitted fabric, handlooms and khadi, home textiles, textile accessories and machinery, Devarajan said..

Tamil Nadu had about 5.7 lakh powerlooms with annual turnover of Rs 35,000 crore.