Kanchi silk saree puts Chennai on nat’l rail map

CHENNAI: The heritage Chennai Central and Chennai Egmore railway stations are in the news again. The signature Kanchipuram silk sarees have put the famous stations on the national railway map now. Dr MGR Chennai Central station, one of the 11 where the “one station, one product” project of the Indian Railways was first implemented in the first phase, secured the numero uno position for collecting the maximum revenue through the sale of the sarees since March 25.

Launched on March 25, 2022, the silk saree stall at Chennai Central has registered sales to the tune of Rs 51.75 lakh to date, including Rs 4.94 lakh in the last one week alone. Going by a message posted on his official Twitter handle, Ganesh, Divisional Railway Manager, Chennai, said an average sale of Rs 53,000 per day was recorded. The “one station one product” project is being implemented in eleven stations in the divisions, including Tiruvallur (Organic health mix), Chennai Beach (Sea shell, craft and jewellery), Tambaram (Arani silk sarees), Ambattur (Herbal products), Tiruvanmiyur (organic health mix) and Katpadi (Gudiyatham Lungis and handlooms).

Talking to DT Next, Ganesh said, “We floated an expression of interest. Small-scale or micro-scale industries participated. The participants are local weavers, artisans and craftsmen. We collect a nominal fee of Rs 500 for 15 days from a seller for providing space. The seller changes every 15 days. The idea is to provide a place for local people to showcase and sell their produce.” Explaining that Kanchipuram silk sarees were being sold at a stall each in Central and Egmore stations owing to high demand, the DRM said that they have planned to extend the project to all 134 stations. “We do not know what kind of product will sell where. It also depends on commercial viability. Also, we need kiosks. A standard kiosk is being designed by the National Institute of Design at Ahmedabad for railways,” he added.

Significantly, Chennai is not the only station to secure the top spot. After Egmore station, which has secured 5th position in the country under one station one product project, Tiruneveli and Tiruchendur stations have also secured the 7th and 10th positions in the country for monetising the local palm products.