In Panagar, a small town in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district, Saksham Jain has turned a modest one-machine venture into a thriving handloom business that now supplies natural cotton fabric to buyers across the country. His unit, Khajanchi Handloom, makes sarees, suits, shirting material, towels and bedsheets entirely from pure cotton yarn without any chemical dyes, and the story shows how patience, proper training and a bit of government support can turn a one-person effort into something that touches hundreds of livelihoods.
A journey that began with a single loom ten years ago
Saksham says he set up this venture roughly 10 years back, starting out with just one handloom machine. Resources were tight in the early days, but he kept at it and gradually expanded the operation. To master the craft, he travelled to the Bina-Vara area of Sagar district for specialised training before returning to Panagar to launch his own unit under the name Khajanchi Handloom.
Government handloom department gave the business a push
According to Saksham, the district handloom office in Jabalpur played a key role in scaling up the work by supplying him two modern machines worth about Rs 24,000 each. That support helped him become self-reliant and, in turn, create jobs for several women from the surrounding area. Women trained under the state's skill upgradation scheme have also found employment at Khajanchi Handloom, giving many local women a path to their own income and financial independence.
No chemical dyes, no electricity, just handwork
The unit's sarees, suits, shirting, towels and bedsheets are all woven from natural cotton yarn, including distinctive jacquard, booti and Maheshwari saree patterns. What sets these products apart is that none of them are made using chemical dyes or electric power. A single saree takes between four and eight days to finish by hand, and prices range from Rs 1,200 to Rs 15,000 depending on the design.
Buyers as far away as Delhi and Bengaluru
Beyond Jabalpur, demand for these handwoven products has spread to big city markets including Delhi, Bengaluru, Pune, Indore and Sagar, where they are selling in sizable quantities. That growing reach outside the local market has been a major driver behind the business's expansion.
From a family grocery store to a lakhs-a-month enterprise
Saksham's family once ran a grocery shop with limited earnings. Today, he personally nets between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh every month from the handloom unit, while the business's overall monthly turnover has climbed to somewhere between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 7 lakh. The artisans and workers employed at the unit are also earning between Rs 18,000 and Rs 25,000 a month, income that is changing the fortunes of several families in the area.
