India likely to achieve FY '13 handicraft export target

07 Feb '13

2 min read

A source of employment for over one million people, the Indian handicraft industry probably would be able to achieve current fiscal’s export target of US$ 3.3 billion, mainly as demand for these items from emerging markets like Latin America, Africa and China is on a rise.

Talking to reporters, Arvind Vadhera, Chairman of Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) said the Indian handicraft exports have performed well during the initial 10 months of the current fiscal due to growing demand from both the traditional US market as well as from emerging markets like the Middle East, Africa, China and Latin America.

India exported 22 percent more handicrafts during April-January 2012-13, as compared to same period last year.

Shawls as art-ware and hand-printed textiles and scarves exports attained growth at 53 percent year-on-year and 14 percent year-on-year respectively, during the review period.

According to the EPCH data, India’s handicraft exports in April-January period totalled US$ 2.7 billion, which has raised the expectation of meeting the current fiscal’s target of US$ 3.3 billion, Mr. Vadhera said.

Around 60 percent of India’s overall handicraft exports are destined to the the EU and the US. While demand from the US has perked up, that from EU is still to rebound.

Saharanpur, Jodhpur, Jaipur and Moradabad are India’s key handicraft hubs that cater to international markets.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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