Channel News Asia, Singapore
NEW DELHI : A slump in global demand has slashed the business of Indian handicraft makers by half.
The handicraft industry, which is the second largest industry in India after agriculture in terms of manpower, has laid-off nearly half a million workers.
The orders are drying up for Indian handicrafts.
India’s art metal wares, wooden and wrought iron handicrafts and embroidered goods had huge buyers in the US, the UK, Germany, Japan and the Middle East.
But demand has dropped by nearly 40 per cent, and exporters are closing down their factories.
Rajjan Kumar, handcrafted jewellery designer, said: “During the months of November and December, we used to have lots of orders and the work was tremendous. Daily we had to deliver two to four orders on an urgent basis. But, nowadays we do not have much work. There is no hurry to make jewellery, as the demands are low, because of fewer tourists.”
Handicraft making is one of the oldest industries in India and continues to be the main source of employment for a vast majority of the population. But the industry, which is already reeling from the global financial meltdown, is also facing a threat from a decline in tourism.
The cities of Jaipur and Agra, which are tourist hotspots, employ nearly one million artisans.
After the terror strike in Mumbai, tourist arrivals in these two cities has gone down considerably.
And more artisans are set to lose their jobs.
Prahlad Aggarwal, convener, Taj Tourism Welfare Society, said: “Right now we do not see the conditions improving as most foreign countries have warned their citizens against coming to India. So, as far as I estimate, we will have to bear a loss of at least US$203 million.”
With continuing uncertainty in the world markets, handicraft exporters feel they may not be able to make up their losses for a long time. – CNA/ms