From India to the world
THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS
New Delhi14 October '06
Huge potential for export of handicraft products
The Indian
Handicrafts and Gifts Fair
organised by Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts
(EPCH), was inaugurated in the Capital's Expo Mart. The fair, which will conclude on
17th Octbber, is evincing the growing global interest for Indian handicrafts. With 60
percent of the total production of handicrafts being exported and rise in export from Rs. 3,618.79 billion for the year 2004-2005 to Rs. 4,548 billion for the year 2005-2006 (as per EPCH figures), it's time for reckoning for six million craftsperson's across the country.
"India handicrafts are creative, theme based, telling a story of its rich tradition and its designing hap enabled us to create an edge over China. With rises in global demand Indian handicrafts has a potential of huge quantum jump in export," said Rakesh Kumar, MD of Indian Exposition Mart.
So who all are buying from India? Retail behemoths like Wal-Mart and JC Penny from the country of Uncle Sam buy world decor, floor coverings, home furnishing, garden articles and furniture accent from India, which contribute 30.72 percent of the total handicrafts export from the country for the year 2005-2006. Other major buyers include UK, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Italy, and Netherlands.
This tantamount that, the small scale and cottage industries sector which has high potential for employment, is emerging as a high foreign exchange earner with, very low capital investment. Still there are certain bottlenecks for the handicrafts industry. Buyers like Wal-Mart looks for uniformity in production, which is very difficult for Indian handicrafts. This requires technical upgradation of clusters.
Then there are labour laws, like contract labour laws, which impose certain restrictions on Indian manufacturers to hire labour on contract basis. "Labour laws are a major hindrance for us and in
creative ventures like jewellery, the government should give certain freedom for hiring labours," reiterates Siddharth Pareek, general manager of Amrapali, which is a leading exporter of jewellery and artefacts. Even EPCH emphasises on un-conditiopal hiring workforce on ad-hoc basis. The council also suggests to not to enforce the 48 working hours in a week, which is a very short period during the seasonal export orders.
Handicraft is a labour intensive industry with high potential of employment for poorer section of the society in rural India. EPCH is assisting this industry to utilise its potential by exploring the overseas market and Indian Expo Mart is acting as a catalyst by bringing in the foreign buyers in India.
With definite conviction, there are lot of efforts to take Indian handicrafts in global arena but the pillar of this industry is not yet strong, which suffers from the aforementioned loopholes. To really utilise the potential of Indian handicraft industry. labour laws should be made flexible with technical upgradation. The handicrafts and gifts fair is just the beginning, Indian handicrafts has a long way to go.
|
