Govt ups FY11 handicrafts export target to $2.5 bn

The government has revised the handicrafts export target upwards to $2.5 billion from $2.2 billion for the current fiscal on account of increasing demand from western markets like the US and Europe.

The handicrafts export performance was excellent in the first two quarters as exporters surpassed the target of $990 million and touched the figure of $1.02 billion. The target has now been revised upwards to $2.5 billion from $2.2 billion for 2010-11, Textiles Minister Dayanidhi Maran said here.

"I hope that quarter 1 and 2 growth will repeat the success story and achieve much higher exports than the targets fixed," he said at an award function organised by the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) here.

During April-November 2010-11, the exports went up by 25 per cent to $1.13 billion from $912 billion, according to the official data.

Besides increasing demand from western markets like the US and Europe, exporters are getting good number of orders from new markets like Argentina, Latin America and the Middle East, EPCH Executive Director Rakesh Kumar said.

The US and EU together account for 70 per cent of the handicraft exports.

The exports were hit hard due to the global economic slowdown. After 11 months of contraction, exports from the handicrafts sector, which employs 1 million people, turned positive from September 2009.

To promote the sector, Maran said, the EPCH has been entrusted with two projects -- the resource centre for providing design development at Moradabad and international Lace Trade Centre at Narsapur.

The projects, which would involve an expenditure of Rs 20 crore, are part of Handicrafts Mega Clusters being set up at Moradabad and Narsapur.

Moradabad, Jaipur, Saharanpur and Jodhpur are major handicraft hubs in the country catering to the global markets.

Besides, the government also plans to create 25 new theme based clusters covering five products groups for non-traditional products like needle work, fashion accessories, festive decorations and natural fibre for exports, the Secretary in the Textiles Ministry, Rita Menon, said.