The latest buzz in the Indian handicrafts market is about the recent revelation that, the handicraft industry stands at $100 billion worldwide and India has just 1.2% of this market. Rubbing the salt on the wounds is another fact that, China, Indonesia and Vietnam are the biggest three exporters of handicrafts, across the globe.

Even though Indian handicrafts industry is showing signs of improvement (the first half of the current financial year was $1.07 billion, about 24 per cent up from $864 million achieved in the first half of last year), the matter of fact is - it is still miles away from the coveted top 3 slots. Union Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran recently announced that his Ministry would give top priority to put together schemes and other initiatives to promote marketing of handicrafts and handloom products. His ministry has set an export target of $2.2 billion, exclusively for handicrafts segment.

Many small exporters, owe their under performance to three main factors: unavailability of information regarding market demands, their small size and use of obsolete machinery /technology.

India has many USPs to help it become one of the major exporters globally. These factors are

• Easy availability of labour, that too at at cheap price.

• Easy availability of raw materials.

• High domestic consumption.

The handicrafts industry provides livelihood for more than six million artisans out of which a big share is constituted by women artisans usually from the weaker sections of the society.

US, Canada, France, Britain, Italy, and Germany have been the biggest importers of Indian handicrafts products. One of the encouraging sign, is the development in sectors like retail, real estate etc. which has increased the demand for the handicraft products in the urban sector.

Despite of all the positive signs which we have discussed above, there are some problem areas as well (mainly with the small scale handicrafts segment )

• Lack of application of new technological innovations despite of awareness.

• Lack of funds for setting up handicraft firms/factories etc.

• Inability to stay in touch with the ever changing trends and market demands.

• Lack of adequate infrastructure.

• Image problem - The industry is confined to small cities and rural areas and is not considered a lucrative career option.

Slowly but gradually things are improving in the indian handicrafts sector. With the renewed interest from the present government, the Indian handicrafts industry seems to be well on its way to speedy recovery. Corporates too have started taking keen interest in the handicraft sector which would further accelerate its growth. Many handicrafts exporters are also using online media as a distribution channel for tapping the western market. Hopefully in the times to come, Indian Handicrafts Exporters would be able to script one of the remarkable success stories of all times.

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