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Indian Handicrafts: The Second Largest Employment-Generating Sector of India

The Indian handicraft industry, which was earlier regarded as the cottage industry, has grown really big over a period of time and today it is a good foreign revenue generator. The country has always been a major exporter and supplier of handicrafts to the world market. The Indian handicraft exports reign in the low-end of the global market because the labour cost in India is not high.

The Indian handicrafts are loved across the globe with people getting attracted by the amazing creativity of the artisans here. The list of handicraft items that these artisans create is long and many of these things are exported. There are wooden handicrafts, tribal arts and then there are marble handicrafts. While the artisans who actually produce these amazing pieces are restricted to rural areas, it’s the marble handicrafts suppliers that act as a link between the artisans and the marble handicrafts exporters. They procure these items from small workers and then supply them to the exporters.

The Indian handicrafts industry is actually very labour intensive and is mostly concentrated in rural and semi-urban areas. This sector, which today offers employment to more than 6 million artisans, is the second largest employment-generating sector in the country with agriculture being the first. A large part of the workforce in this segment comprises of either women or people from the weaker sections of the society.

These people are gifted, but are mostly uneducated and don’t have any business sense. They don’t have the capability or the intent to grow big by showcasing their art to big buyers. This is where the middleman comes into picture – he gets stuff from them, even helps them with loans and then supplies the products to big enterprises cutting down a big margin for himself. These big enterprises then sell these handicraft items in big cities, malls or export them.

If we talk of marble only, then the top ten quarry stone producing countries account for nearly 93% of the world quarry stone output. This stone has always been associated with some of the most intricate carvings since centuries. The monument of love – ‘Taj Mahal’ is a unique example of a structure made of Marble. The stone is preferred even today for idols, vases and a range of handicrafts that need fine carving.

The artisans carve out beautiful breath-taking designs from these marble items and then the product is polished to give it the perfect glossy shine. For export purposes, the marble used is of the highest grade and quality and thus it is both stain-proof and chip-resistant. Most of the marble items are highly durable and have a high tensile strength that makes them the preferred choice.

People love to gift marble items to friends and relatives on various occasions because of their attractiveness, durability and reasonable prices.

If you are an artisan producing handicrafts and looking to find direct buyers or if you are a supplier of various handicraft products, explore handicraft buyers on go4WorldBusiness.com.