India is one of the majorsuppliers of handicrafts to the global market. Highly labor intensive, andbasically cottage based, the industry is more widespread in the rural and urbanareas. The industry provides a livelihood for more than 6 million artisansincluding a big share of women artisans, and people from the weaker sections ofthe society.

 

There is a good demand for Indianhandicraft products in countries such as US, Canada, France, Britain, Italy, and Germany. Indian handicrafts are much preferred in the fashion industry.Development in sectors like retail, real estate etc increases the demand, andgives more opportunities for handicraft products. Emergence of e-commerce andinternet has emerged as a promising distribution channel to market and sellhandicraft items.

 

Positive Factors Supportingthe Sector:

Indian handicraft industry has alarge, diversified, and potential market. It is equipped with strong anddiversified supportive retail infrastructure. It has an assortment of product rangedue to the diversified culture prevalent in the country. The industry isfurther enhanced with low capital investment, production flexibility, and cheaplabor rates that result in competitive price for its products. Handicraftssector has fewer barriers for new entry, and also proves to be a potentialsource of employment.

 

Achilles Heels of the Industry:

 

Despite of all the technologicaladvancements happening globally, there is still a lack of awareness about it inthis sector. The artisans do not have awareness about the new technologies.They do not get adequate details about the current market trends. Further more;they lack information regarding international requirements and market scenario.Hence they are not able to commercialize their skills in the right way. ThoughIndian made handicraft items have a healthy demand in the global market, lackof adequate infrastructure and communication facilities hinder the marketingactivities.

 

Moreover, there is very lessco-ordination among government bodies, and private players. They sector stillremains under nourished with young people not much interested in this craftsmanship.The industry is confined to small cities and rural areas with the market remaininguntapped.

 

The Dark Phase:

 

There is no adequate balancebetween demand and supply. The industry faces a tough competition withhandicrafts from countries like China, and South Africa. The advancedtechnology and R&D in the competitors countries favor them whereas; itsabsence in India makes the industry to wobble behind. This has ultimatelyresulted in loss of skilled workmanship in the sector.

 

Due to lack of support from theHandicrafts Development Corporation, and the Government, many skilled artisansare leaving the handicraft industry. The artisans feel that the corporation isnot interested in supporting them to market the goods made by them. Almost 90%of the handicraft items seen in the stalls of Handicraft DevelopmentCorporation are machine made. Despite the funds offered under the Deen DayalHathkargh Protsahan Yogana (DDHPY) scheme, for promoting handicraft products,no steps have so far been taken for any projects. Artisans believe that thecorporation does not take adequate measures to provide raw materials for theirproducts, which they are selling through the corporation outlets in the pastyears.

 

 

The 6 million artisans who are the backbone on the Indian handicraft industry have provided their inherent skills, and traditional craftsmanship. But, they are now leaving the industry gradually due to lack of opportunities. The Government needs to focus on creating and developing production centres to patronize the artisans. The facilities available are quite sufficient only as a primary platform. For the changing world market, they need much advanced institutional support, to keep their edge with other competing countries.

 

References:

1.       &sec=article&uinfo=<%=server.URLEncode(2781)%>" target="_blank">http://handicrafts.nic.in/

2.       &sec=article&uinfo=<%=server.URLEncode(2781)%>" target="_blank">http://www.india-crafts.com

3.       Indian Handicrafts Industry, &sec=article&uinfo=<%=server.URLEncode(2781)%>" target="_blank">http://www.gfe.de/