MYSORE
This is the ONLY genuinely government-owned silk outlet (Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation, Manandavadi Road) — fixed prices, no bargaining, no commission touts. Ignore any auto/cab driver who insists a different 'government emporium' (commonly 'Cauvery' or 'Kaveri' branded shops downtown) is the real one; those are private shops paying drivers 20-30% commission
The silk weaving unit was established in 1912 by Maharaja Nalvadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, starting with just 10 looms and later expanding to 138, with machinery imported from Switzerland, making it the first facility of its kind in India. After independence the Mysore state Sericulture Department ran the factory until it was handed to the newly formed Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation (KSIC), a state government enterprise, in 1980. The factory celebrated its centenary in 2012 as the first government industrial unit in Karnataka to do so, and continues to produce the pure silk sarees for which Mysore is famous.
