Handicraft Industry As One Of The Major Sources Of Foreign Currency Earnings For India

The Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) is responsible for promotion of Indian handicrafts. O. P. Prahladka, Chairman, EPCH spoke to BE’s Ellora De regarding export related issues.

- 

Q. Which countries are the major importers of Indian handicrafts?

A. United States of America and the European Union import around two-thirds of India’s handicraft exports. The US presently enjoys around 35% of our handicraft exports and is followed by UK that imports 7%, Germany imports 5%, Netherlands and France both import around 3%. Among the Asian countries, UAE imports around 10% of our handicrafts exports. Australia imports around 2%, Canada around 1.5% and Japan 1%.

Q. How much revenue does our economy earn annually from handicraft export?

A. For FY 2017-18, the export figure for Indian handicrafts was ₹ 23029.36 crore ($ 3573.49 million).

Q. What has been the impact of GST on handicraft export?

A. During the initial stages of GST implementation, some difficulties were faced by handicraft exporters. But things have settled down now. Compliance has also been simplified. Recently on July 21, 2018, the GST Council has reduced GST rates on a number of handicrafts items. This will also improve things in the handicraft sector.