Matka Silk is characteristically referred to the silk, spun directly from the cocoon without removing the gum/sericin. It is the by-product of the Bombyx Mori silkworm popularly known as Mulberry Silk. In India, the major mulberry silk-producing states are Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Jammu & Kashmir which together accounts for 92% of the country’s total mulberry raw silk production. Remaining silk from the reeling process becomes the raw material for carded or combed, spun silk yarn. The short fibers left behind after the carding or combing process are used to make noil yarn, a richly textured nubbly silk commonly referred to as Matka Silk.
The spinning process of Matka silk majorly takes place in Murshidabad and Malda district of West Bengal. Thus we find Matka silk handlooms majorly being made in Bengal.