Assam has the highest number of handlooms and weavers in India. The challenges posed by power mills to the handloom sector, therefore, affect the state and its traditional weavers the most. Some of the challenges become more prominent during the Rongali Bihu festivity when traditional weavers hope for a bumper sale of their handloom products, but cheaper powerloom replicas of handwoven products pour cold water on their optimism. Strengthening institutional and legal protection for handloom products, building capacity among weavers to leverage digital technology and providing a cushion against rising input prices can bring much-needed transformation to the state’s handloom sector. The Assam government procuring 6.5 lakh Gamosas directly from the weavers in the state has brought smiles to lakhs of weavers in the state. Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma planning to gift around 5 lakh Gamosas to noted people from different fields across India, including Union Ministers, Chief Ministers, members of parliament, legislators, journalists, and businessmen, is a praiseworthy and unprecedented initiative by any state government to popularise Assam’s handloom products across India. He also announced plans to establish a Gamosa sale centre in every Assam Bhawan in the country to boost sales in other states. While the government initiative will give a big boost to the production of Gamosas in the state, the challenge of powerloom replicas of traditional Assamese Gamosas flooding the market will not go away. Rather, the traders of powerloom replicas of handwoven products will try to dupe buyers in other states too, once the demand for Gamosa and other traditional Assamese handloom products increases. The Handloom Mark can provide effective protection to traditional handloom products both within and outside the state, as it identifies products woven on handlooms. The registration of weavers and their products under Handloom Mark has not gained the required momentum, allowing powerloom replicas to flood the market. The demand for use of the Handloom Mark label on handwoven products has not grown among buyers, which can be attributed to a lack of awareness about it among them. The efforts to increase registration of weavers under the Handloom Mark scheme and building awareness of it need to be intensified both among weavers and buyers. The Department of Handloom and Textile identifying the reasons behind low registration even after 19 years of the launching of the Handloom Mark will be crucial to articulate an effective strategy to remove the gaps. Apart from individual weavers and master weavers, primary handloom weaver cooperative societies, Self-Help Groups, Consortiums, Producer Companies, Joint Liability Groups, and Handloom Weavers Groups are also allowed to register for this protection mark and the indenting of approved labels. While reaching out to individual weavers is challenging, the word about Handloom Mark can spread faster through weaver cooperative societies, SHGs, consortiums, producer companies, etc. There is an inherent safeguard against misuse of the mark, as applicants are registered after on-site verification done through a mobile app developed by the Textile Committee of the Ministry of Textiles. Genuineness of products is also ascertained through unique and dynamic QR code labels affixed on handloom products. The Ministry of Textiles building capacity of state handloom departments to expedite on-site verification can increase the number of registrations for the Handloom Mark in states. The state Handloom and Textile Department can impress upon the Ministry of Textiles to undertake registration of the Handloom Mark in Assam on mission mode so that the traditional handloom industry can generate huge livelihood opportunities for lakhs of unemployed youth through the transformation of traditional weaving into a commercial scale production activity. Without a determined approach to leverage the advantage of high market demand for genuine handwoven products, schemes facilitating traditional weavers using authenticity tags, mere dependence on implementing the Handlooms (Reservation of Articles for Production) Act, 1985, for the production of reserved items including Gamosa, Mekhala Chador, Aronai, etc., and routine seizure of powerloom powerloomreplica is not going to bring the required transformation in the state’s handloom sector. The issues of rising input costs, such as prices of yarns and dye, also need to be addressed so that prices of final products do not increase beyond the capacity of the majority of buyers. Supporting poor and marginalised weavers with subsidised yarn can provide a cushion against price rises, but yarn banks being located closer to clusters of handloom weavers is essential to prevent transportation costs from negating the subsidised yarn supply. Tapping the export market demands innovative design and catering to the requirements of global buyers. Quality Muga and Eri silk products from Assam have premium markets in several countries but require product diversification. The authenticity tag plays the most crucial role in the global market even while quality provides a competitive advantage. It is hoped that conscious buyers and officials in Assam will play their part this Rongali Bihu festive season to raise awareness of the use of the Handloom Mark on handloom products sold by traditional weavers.