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.
PS : Indian handicrafts exporters get your online catalog today and make profits by tapping the business queries being generated across the globe on the web 24/7 . To know more , click on Indian handicrafts manufacturers
The US and EU together account for 70 per cent of the country's handicraft exports and with Christmas and New Year approaching, Indian Handicrafts exporters will see more profits and export orders for their products in the days to come.
Indian handicrafts exporters have already generated half the target of $2,200 million during the first two quarters of this financial year. It marks 13.6 per cent growth when compared to handicraft export revenues of Rs 8,718.94 crore in the year 2009-10.
According to the provisional data available the exports of Handicrafts have shown an increase of 21.71% in dollar terms, during April-August 2010-2011, over the similar period in 2009-2010. The exports of art metal wares, wood wares, hand printed textiles & scarves, embroidered goods, zari & zari goods, imitation jewelry and misc. handicrafts have also shown an increasing trend.
The Handicrafts sector was hit hard by global recession; there was 30 percent decline in handicraft export orders for India in the last three years. The sector turned positive in September 2009, registering a growth of over 165 percent. Indian Handicrafts exporters are now hopeful that the positive trend will continue in the coming months also.
Moradabad, Saharanpur, Jaipur and Jodhpur are the major handicraft hubs in India, catering to global markets. The sector employs about 1 million people.
So, if you are an Indian handicrafts exporter and want to showcase your products to the global buyers, log on to tradeindia.com and see your business grow manifold.
Moradabad the "Brass City" famous for its huge export of brass handicrafts to North America, Europe and all over the world is very much perplexed these days. Their business is stumbling - going down by around 60 percent this year.
For the beginners, Moradabad is renowned for its brass work and has carved a niche for itself in the handicraft industry throughout the world. The main crafts are the modern and attractive brass ware, jewelry and trophies made by skilled artisans by loads of hardwork and sheer creativity. The artistic brass ware is exported to countries like United States, Britain, Canada, Germany, Middle East Asia etc. The quality of artefacts is often so fine that it usually leaves the foreign patrons gobsmacked, yearning for more. No doubt, there are about 600 export units and 5000 industries in the district. Moradabad exports goods worth around Rs. 2200 crore (USD 500 million) every year.
The brassware exporters are concerned about the fall in demand not just from US or UK, but also from the European Union. Indian Government still maintains that it is investing a lot of money to improve infrastructural facilities to promote the industrial activities at Moradabad like 24 hours UN-interrupted power supply, construction of By-pass etc. However the brassware exporters are not fully convinced with government's line of action.
Brass industry is being developed as a small scale industry in Moradabad. According to news reports, about 450 acres of land has been acquired to develop a new industrial area for Export Oriented Units (EOUs) at Pakbara to Dingarpur Road. Thus this could be a good opportunity for new entrepreneurs to establish their brassware projects.
The popular brass handicrafts that are mostly sought after are brass statues, brass figures, European statues, brass articles, brass candle holders, brass candle stands, brass cross statues, brass flower vase et al. Many buyers also like brass urns, brass artware, brass flower vase, brass statues, brass vases and brass wall hangings.
Industry insiders reveal that the main challenge before the Indian brass handicrafts industry is to involve the disenchanted local youth population to take this occupation as their full time business. They further say that the next important step would be to give them proper training (including technical innovations and marketing basics). The last step would be to make them fully understand the huge potential of this business. Unless and until a compelling drive is initiated, the brass industry of Moradabad could fade into oblivion.
PS : Brass handicrafts exporters get your online catalog today and make profits by tapping the business queries being generated across the globe on the web 24/7 . To know more , click on brass handicrafts exporters .
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