ADMIRABLE COLLECTION: Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and his wife Anita Kumaraswamy looking at the saris after the former launched the bridal collection of KSIC in Bangalore on Saturday. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Bangalore: "The State is well known for Mysore Silk, especially that which is manufactured by the Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation," said Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, after launching the bridal collection of KSIC here on Saturday.

The Chief Minister said that KSIC, which was sick, had been making profits for the past three years. "It is good that the officials are looking to make more profits. However, efforts should also be made to sell KSIC products across the world. More emphasis should be given to marketing."

S. Shivanna, Minister for Sericulture, urged the Chief Minister to extend facilities to the industry and help sericulturists. He also said that KSIC had been working for the past 10 months along with designer Deepika Govind to bring out the bridal collection.

"According to the feedback collected from our customers, the predominant demand from the public was for a change in design. This collection was a step in that direction. We have also asked the National Institute of Fashion Technology to help us with the designs," said P. Vijay, Managing Director, KSIC.

He said that Ms. Govind had signed a memorandum of understanding with KSIC and would soon be launching another collection — Festival Collection.

"We want to ensure that KSIC soon joins the club of Fortune 500 companies. We are working hard in this regard," he added.

Speaking to The Hindu, Ms. Govind said that she was happy to be contributing to the State. "The Mysore Silk heritage is unique and am glad I was able to contribute in my own way to that. KSIC gave me the freedom to design, for which I am grateful," she said.

She said that the collection of 60 saris was in 12 different designs. The collection has four story-boards — Indian Lotus, Palmit, Leave scrolls and Lily.

"I wanted the brides to choose KSIC saris over other silk saris. My collection is more print-based. I wanted to create a sari worth its weight in gold," she added. The saris are priced between Rs. 1 lakh and Rs. 1.5 lakh. Each sari contains 740 gm of gold lace and 580 gm of pure crepe silk, and weighs 1.25 kg.

Anitha Kumaraswamy, Chief Minister's wife; Balachandra Jarkiholi, Minister for Social Welfare; and P.B. Mahishi, Chief Secretary, were present.

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