There is a growing appetite for handcrafted Indian products in the land of the dragon.
After its diversification strategy yielding result in the Latin American markets, the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts, the nodal body for promoting handicrafts exports, is gearing to tap the demand from China.
“China has been known in the world to be a handicrafts producing country. So far, it has been giving tough competition to the Indian handicraft industry. However, due to large-scale mechanisation, there is a low unit value for Chinese products and hand work is done only for finishing. This is where the demand for Indian products come in,” Mr Arvind Vadhera, Chairman, EPCH, said on the sidelines of an event.
He said Indian products offered uniqueness in craftsmanship, finish and presentation. “We have noticed that in the last few years, export to China has been increasing”.
Handicraft exports to China in 2008-09 stood at Rs 418.33 crore. It rose to Rs 945.72 crore during 2010-11, registering a 94.07 per cent growth. The products exported to China included metal craft, hand printed textile, scarves, fashion jewellery, art ware and wood craft products among others.
The share of China in the world trade of handicraft has been around 30 per cent. Mr Vadhera said Chinese buyers were regularly visiting international expo organised by EPCH.
EPCH is limiting its exposure to US and European markets, which are reeling under severe economic crisis.
It also noted that going forward it will continue to focus on Latin America. The export promotion body is also seeking waiving of service tax for business exhibition organised within the country. “Our other pre-Budget recommendations include continuation of subvention of interest of two per cent beyond March 31 and reduction of custom duty from 30 per cent to zero per cent”.
Handicraft exports registered an increase of 23.44 per cent at Rs 8,992.12 crore in the first ten months of the current financial yearas against Rs 7,284.48 crore during the same period last year.