'Made-in-China' silk saris are reported to be on sale in the US, Singapore, Dubai and elsewhere, posing a threat to the market for Mysore crepe silk, Banarase and Kancheepuram among NRIs. And the Chinese powerloom-woven silk, of superior quality, is priced much lower. Mysore crepe has been a major brand in global shopping centres for the last eight decades. And today in Singapore and Dubai, they say, you get better quality China silk at 40 percent of the cost.

It's a wake up call to our silk trade people who have been complacent about quality and upkeep of the integrity of the brand. For some of the saris palmed off as 'Mysore silk' by traders for quick gains is really an inferior mix of silk with rayon and substandard 'zari'. There is no surer way to kill the brand image of Mysore silk. Besides, we might well have to see the day when 'made-in-China' silk hits the Mysore market with price advantage under concessions extended by the World Trade Organisation agreement..

- Sourced from 'Maharaja Features' item by K D L Khan, in Deccan Herald (June 7, 2005)