India's handicraft sector employees over six million artisans. What makes this sector very attractive is the low entry cost. The capital investment is very low but the returns by way of valuable foreign exchange are very high.
Between April and September 2013 the country exported handicraft goods worth Rs 1185 crore. This number is a 56 percent jump over the previous period.
Realizing the heart of this sector is the artisans, the government through various schemes has provided financial assistance ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh to various institutions to upgrade the artisan skills via design and technology intervention. Since it is largely an unorganized sector the government has also provided marketing support by organizing events across the country. Besides financial assistance is provided for opening new emporia at various locations so that artisans have access to permanent sales outlets for their products.
The central cottage industries emporiums currently act as a premiere organization in promoting and marketing handicraft products. What will boost this sector further is the governments plan along with the help of NGOs to design clusters that would help in creating world class infrastructure that caters to the business needs of the small artisans and SME players and this should change the economic profile of millions of artisans.
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