An eight-member technical expert committee set up by the Karnataka government has recommended that the government should frame a comprehensive policy for revival of silk industry.

The committee was set up in June this year following a meeting of sericulturists, reelers, and other stakeholders with chief minister Siddaramaiah in view of declining price of cocoons and raw silk. It was tasked to study cocoon and raw silk pricing, and their market set up in the state, and suggest measures to improve the sector.

The tasks of the panel included arriving at a rational cost of raw silk production and reeling, and find out the average price of raw silk in the last five years, and analyse government intervention during similar crisis in 1994 and 2011 when prices of cocoons and raw silk declined.

On an average, about 150 tonnes of cocoon is handled in the state’s major markets. Sericulture is a major occupation in Chamarajnagar, Chickballapur, Bengaluru Rural, Kolar, Ramanagaram, Mandya, Tumakuru and Mysuru districts of the state.