Amaravati, Aug 8 (IANS): Andhra Pradesh Industries Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy on Saturday said the state government will bolster the Khadi and hand weaving industry by intensifying marketing and promoting them on e-commerce platforms Amazon and Flipkart.

"We will enable sales on Amazon and Flipkart portals and intensify marketing," said Reddy.

He made these remarks on the occasion of National Handloom Day at Vijayawada, addressing an association of weavers.

Eulogizing hand weaving or Khadi, the minister said this form of making clothes is our tradition and collective culture.

"Hand weaving is everyone's inheritance. Hand weaving is our responsibility and future," Reddy noted.

Commemorating the special day, the Industries Minister said future generations will be taught the art of hand weaving by exponents.

He recalled that Mahatama Gandhi defied the British during the freedom struggle by saying that Indians will make their own clothes by weaving the chakra.

According to the minister, Khadi instantly reminds him of hand weaving on a chakra, called 'ratnam' in Telugu.

Reddy called for gram swaraj (village empowerment) and hand weaving development at the village level.

He said Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy observed that development is not high rise buildings but the availability of all amenities at the village level.