India's handicraft exports to jump 15% in FY'14: EPCH

27 Aug '13

2 min read

Backed by rising demand from emerging markets like China, Africa and Latin America, India’s handicraft exports are expected to rise by over 15 percent to surpass the US$ 3.8 billion export target set for 2013-14, Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) Executive Director Rakesh Kumar has said.

Though the demand from European markets is still moving sluggishly, exporters are receiving good response from traditional US market, and also new markets like China, Africa and Latin America. This persuaded them to fix a higher export target for the current fiscal year, above last year’s exports worth US$ 3.3 billion, Economic Times reported quoting Mr. Kumar.

According to the EPCH data, the sector’s exports grew by about 12 percent to US$ 869 million during first four months (April-July) of the current fiscal, as compared to same period of previous fiscal.

The items that posted positive export growth during the period included hand-printed textiles and scarves, whose exports posted an 8 percent year-on-year rise, and shawls as artwares, whose exports grew by about 31.69 percent year-on-year.

Jaipur, Jodhpur, Saharanpur and Moradabad are the main handicraft centres in India that serve as a source of livelihood for over one million people, and cater to the domestic as well as international markets.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India

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