Jaipur, June, 2023.

Dileep Baid, promotor of Dileep Industries took over as the chairman of Exports Promotion Council for handicrafts for two years at the Committee of Administration(COA) Meeting held in Jaipur on Thursday. Before this elevation, he served as the vice-chairman of Exports Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH).

After the COA meeting, EPCH also organized a seminar which was attended by 300 handicraft exporters from across the country. The seminar deliberated on the crucial themes like designing andbringing in efficiency in with production process management. Renowned fashion designer of the countryTarunTahilaniand T K Chakraborthy from Saint Gobain threw insights on various issues of the sector highlighted by the new chairman Dileep Baidas the coordinator.

Handicrafts exports surged during the Covid-19, but the exports growth has declined due to the global geo-political tension, especially the Russia and Ukraine war, and economic turmoil in the exporting countries like the US and Europe. But Baid said that India is well-poised to come back strongly.

Baid said, “Currently, India exports handicrafts worth over Rs30,000 crore. But the looking at the scope and the interest of the global buyers in India, we have set a target to achieve handicraft exports of Rs 1 lakh crore by 2030.”

Baid said that EPCH has chalked out a very comprehensive strategy, having a series of initiatives to reach exports of Rs 1 lakh crore. “When we reach this target, we expect the industry to employ 70 lakh people. Currently, the sector engages 35 lakh people in the country, including 5 lakhin Rajasthan,” added Baid.

International buyers are looking for alternative countries to source products for various reasons. Most buyers are adopting China plus one, not China alone. The momentum is shifting to India. The exporters have to prepare themselves to grab the opportunity and build on the momentum.

Baid said that Indian exporters today by and large are small and there are a very few whose operations are medium in size. “If we have to play a big role in the international market, we need to increase our production size. Production of larger volumes is important to lure international buyers. Today, most Indian exporters have smaller size operations. We have to create a strategy to create opportunities so that the smaller players will be motivated to invest more and increase their production capacity.”

EPCH has laid out a multi-pronged strategy to help exporters in expanding their production capacity, harvesting productivity gains, improving quality of products, adopting new global trends in designing, and providing easy access to international markets among others.

Addressing handicraft exporters gathered in Jaipur, Baid, “India has strengths in areas like designing and authenticity of products. Foreign buyers love India for our designs. To become globally competitive, we have to invest in infrastructure in factories, and the latest high-efficiency machinery. We need to refine and reform our production systems and processes to improve productivity. Our wastage and use of energy is one of the highest in the world. There is ample scope to reduce wastage and energy consumption in a significant way. There are a lot of areas where we can bring in efficiency and reduce total production costsup to 15-20%. If we achieve this, we can compete with anybody, be it China or Vietynam, which are bigger handicrafts exporters in the world.”

Baid said since people were viewing this industry from handicraftsperspective, we were focusing on doing everything by hand. “If we do by hand, then the wastages, variations in finished products and other inefficiencies creep in. If we want to go international, this is not acceptable. We have to bring in all the tools and machinery to raise efficiency. Having smart process control is important and EPCH is working on a strategy to rope in experts who can be hired by exporters to improve their process. Reducing human intervention is also important as tools and machines will help exporters make standardized products, bring down rejections by buyers and harness efficiency.”

EPCH is keen to ensure that exporters do not lose out on efficiency gains and optimum use of machinery, Dr Rakesh Kumar, Director General, EPCH, said the Councilwill create awareness by bringing in experts and consultants who can do audit and suggest exporters how much wastage they can reduce.

The Director General said that to reduce logistics costs, China put up factories near ports. “They also import raw materials. But when the raw materials are consumed at the factories near airports and seaports and exported back from there, the logistic costs get reduced significantly. Not only, they save on logistics costs but also get one more production and export cycle as the turnaround time gets reduced. We have to learn these strategies for harnessing efficiencies,” he added.

Dr Rakesh Kumar said EPCH has already hired consultant firm E&Y to prepare a project report. He said the objective is to convince the state governments about the potential of handicrafts exports and how the state governments can benefit. “The report will suggest a path for the state governments for boosting confidence of the exporters in investing more in new capacity additions and what the governments can do,” he explained.

To spread design awareness EPCH is creating a pool of designers. Exporters can take the services of the designers to improve their product line as per the requirements of the international buyers. “EPCH will conduct seminars on new trends. Dr Rakesh Kumar said, “We have created a cell. The cell will provide vetted designers to exporters. Design inputs are a necessary for exporters. We are inking MoUs with various design institutes in India.”

R K Verma, Executive Director of EPCHsaid that the Council is trying to change the narrative of Indian handicraft industry with campaigns like “India Has Arrived.” “We want to showcase India through digital marketing, road shows, participating in international fairs and exhibitions to change the image of Indian handicrafts industry,” said R K Verma.

The focus areas will also include opening new marketing channels for industry to tie up platforms like Expo Bazaar.