Assam’s traditional handloom industry provides livelihood to over 11 lakh weavers, and its sustainability is crucial to prevent the loss of livelihood for such a huge number of traditional weavers. These traditional weavers getting remunerative prices for their product is the first condition for the commercial sustainability of the handloom industry in the state. Prices being affordable for buyers is a crucial factor that determines demand for commodities produced on a mass scale. Weavers getting yarn at a low cost can bring down the production cost of a handloom product and fix the price for the finished product. Yarn Supply Scheme (YSS), introduced in 1992, was a major government intervention to subsidise cotton and silk yarn prices to make them available to weavers at the price of the mill gate. This scheme envisaged reimbursement of transportation expenses involved in the supply of yarn. The YSS has been renamed and modified as the Raw Material Supply Scheme (RMSS) for implementation in the period from 2021–22 to 2022–26. Apart from making quality yarn and their blends available to the eligible handloom weavers at subsidised rates, another key objective of the RMSS is to set the benchmark price and quality of yarn in the open market so that price remains within reasonable limits and consistent supply and quality parameters are maintained in the market. The scheme also seeks to facilitate handloom weavers’ engagement in the sector and help them compete with the mill sector, as handloom productivity is lower compared to powerloom. The handloom sector accounts for only 15% of the total cloth production in the country, which includes the handloom, powerloom, and mill sectors, excluding hosiery, khadi, wool, and silk. While the labour cost of handloom is rising, the price of powerloom-made cloth is about 30% less than that of handloom. Unless powerloom mills stop producing imitation handloom products such as hand-woven gamosa, mekhala chador, aronai, etc., even supplying subsidised yarns cannot check the decline in the traditional handloom industry, as there is no way handloom weavers can compete with the productivity and low cost of production of powerloom mills. The Assam government seized 16,000 powerloom gamosas and polyester-mixed mekhala chador last year from the market, which indicates the extent of cheaper powerloom imitations of traditional hand-woven products flooding the market. This also indicates the demand for such products in the market. The real challenge in policy planning is to ensure that the productivity of traditional weavers is increased to meet the demand, which is currently met by supplies of powerloom products from mills in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. Favourable response to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s appeal to buy handloom-made gamosa this Rongali Bihu season will ensure lakhs of handloom weavers get remunerative prices. The ARTFED’s purchase of 1.5 lakh gamosas is also a laudable step towards ensuring remunerative prices for traditional handloom artisans. The demand for gamosas and mekhala chador is not seasonal alone, as apart from cultural festivities, these also have utility in daily life, and for local artisans, meeting this demand is the real challenge in denying powerloom products the space in the markets. For about 51% of weavers in the state, weaving is not a full-time livelihood avenue, and only for 35% of the weavers does 60% of the household income come from handloom and related activities. The productivity of handlooms can increase only if all weavers’ households can take it up as a full-time livelihood avenue, but there is reluctance among most weavers to take it up as their primary livelihood option without the incentive of a remunerative price and assured market demand. With 90% of weavers in the state being women, these weavers being relieved of the overburden of household chores is critical to finding more time to be spent on the looms to boost production and increase productivity in the handloom sector. This gives rise to the scope of policymakers reflecting on and weighing the options between doling out cash to women beneficiaries under cash transfer schemes like Orunodoi and utilising the amount to provide incentive to weavers to devote more time on their looms and boost production of hand-woven products to cater to market demands. The annual budget expenditures for increasing the monthly cash transfer to Rs 1400 for each woman beneficiary are estimated to go up to Rs 3240 crore in 2023–24. If household income can be augmented through weaving, then the younger generation in the weavers’ families will be keen to take it up as the primary livelihood option, which is vital to prevent the rich tradition of weaving from declining in the state. Participation of the educated younger generation, who are empowered with digital skills, will also infuse the traditional handloom industry with new ideas. Problems faced by Assam’s handloom industry are related to market dynamics, and solutions need to be explored within them beyond evoking associated cultural sentiments.