The Indian handicraft sector has increased to 16.4 per cent since 2008-09 and is now a $100 billion industry. This means that there is plenty of scope in this field for young and creative minds, says Neha Bansal
India has always been sought after destination for handicrafts owing to its diverse culture and rich heritage. Different States in the country are popular for different kinds of handicrafts — Saharanpur is famous for wooden articles, Rajasthan and Gujarat for embroidered and printed fabric and Narsapur for lace and material etc.
The artisans who work on these exquisite pieces of artefacts are often handed down this craft from generations and mostly belong to the weaker sections of the society. But non availability of proper training and infrastructure, lack of financial support and overdependence on established markets for selling these products are few of the challenges that these artisans and craftsmen are facing today.
Scope
In 2014-15, Indian handicrafts exports stood at $4.5 billion, up approximately 15.4 per cent over the previous year’s exports. Exports of Indian handicrafts have increased at around 16.4 per cent since 2008-09. The Indian handicraft industry is a $100 billion industry worldwide but India’s contribution in world market is a negligible 1.2 per cent.
So, the scope of pursuing a career in handicraft is huge. Be it training the existing craftsmen and their children and making them aware of new technologies or encouraging the creative youth of this country to uphold this tradition by taking this up as a profession.
The Small Scale and Cottage Sector provides employment to over 7 million artisans. In addition to the high potential for providing employment, the sector is also economically important from the point of a lower capital investment, higher ratio of value addition, and higher potential for export and foreign exchange earnings for the country.
Challenges
The present handicraft sector is primarily an unorganised sector and as a large unorganised sector, handicrafts faces challenges such as like lack of modern machinery, infrastructure and training.
lower education levels among the newer generation of artisans lead to difficulty in managing inventory, access Government schemes and policies, market information etc.
The Government policies do not allow building of strong supply chain linkages. As a result, the products which are made in remote locations often do not see the light of established markets. It is really unfortunate that while on one hand, the government is trying to promote entrepreneurship, a chunk of the entrepreneurs in this sector are affected due to poverty and other social injustices. In such scenarios, it is almost impossible for an entrepreneur to take risks. This is a major reason these people are unable to adopt latest technologies or skill-based-training, which is a vital element of today’s business.
Another major challenge is the large production and import of Chinese products in the Indian markets who now share a major chunk of all kinds of gifting. These products are manufactured from cheap material and are not environmentally friendly. India’s gift market is estimated close to $30 billion dollars. It is also the most untapped. According to a reports, the estimated market for corporate gifts is over Rs 12,000 crore and is expected to grow between 8 to 12 per cent annually.
Opportunities
The Development Commissioner (Handicrafts) offers training facilities for artisans across the country. It provides assistants in the form of technical and financial support in the development, marketing and export of handicrafts, and the promotion of craft forms and skills. For the creative young people who want to take up handicrafts as a profession, The Indian Institute of Crafts and Designs (IICD), set up by the Government of Rajasthan also offers various course. The IICD offers UG and diploma in Crafts and designs as well as PG and diploma courses. All courses are for durations of 6 months to 4 years.
The need is for more and more institutes and corporate bodies to come together for the promotion of Indian handicrafts by educating existing artisans and also to encourage the young creative minds of this country to take this up, not only as a career, but also as a responsibility.
(The writer is co-founder of Divinehaat.com)