Malkha, based in Hyderabad, aims to combine thousands of years of Indian expertise in weaving cotton with modern Indian engineering skills. Malkha fabrics are woven by skilled weaver families on handlooms in Indian villages from cotton grown by smallholder farmer families. The speciality of Malkha fabric is that it is pure cotton cloth made directly from raw cotton in the village close to cotton fields. The uniqueness of the malkha process lies in the fact that it puts the intermediate stage of cotton spinning back in the village (which is currently taken up in big spinning mills), thus making the entire textile chain from cotton to cloth. village-based. The process uses newly designed machines so that modern small scale technology is put to use in the village. Bypassing the baling and unbaling of cotton by heavy machinery and avoiding unnecessary transport, the process is also more energy efficient. The end result is improved texture, softness, absorbency and drape.
The Malkha Marketing Trust aims to develop pure cotton cloth made directly from raw cotton in the village close to cotton fields. It combines traditional Indian principles of cloth making with modern small-scale technology. The trust also seeks to keep its emphasis on energy efficient intact – it avoids baling and unbaling of cotton by heavy machinery and unnecessary transport, thus retaining the richness of the fibre and making it even more valuable to its producers and consumers.