Kanchipuram, Chennai top in export of musical instruments

Kanchipuram, Chennai and Kolkata have emerged as the top musical instruments exporting districts of the country amid increasing demand for India-made drums, guitars and flutes.

While string instruments such as guitars, harps and violins are exported to the US, UAE and Germany from Kanchipuram and Mumbai, keyboard instruments from Kanchipuram and New Delhi have found favour in the US, UK, China, Australia and South Korea.

India exported $22 million worth of musical instruments and their accessories in the first half of this financial year, as against $38.5 million in the entire 2021-22, as learning music became one of the most favoured hobbies across the world in the past two years when the Covid-19 pandemic forced people to stay indoors.


Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that in the past eight years, the export of musical instruments from India has increased three and a half times.

"Talking about electrical musical instruments, their export has increased 60 times. This shows that the craze for Indian culture and music is increasing all over the world. The biggest buyers of Indian musical instruments are developed countries like the USA, Germany, France, Japan and UK. It is a matter of fortune for all of us that our country has such a rich heritage of Music, Dance and Art," Modi said in his address in the 95th Episode of 'Mann Ki Baat'.

An official said, "The One District One Product initiative has helped exports and the demand for musical instruments globally is encouraging."

The US was the top importer of musical instruments and their accessories from India in April-September, at $4.38 million, followed by Germany, Malaysia and China.

While Meerut is the main centre for the manufacture and assembly of brass band instruments, Kanpur is the home for harmoniums, Amroha for dholaks and Chennai for drums.

"With Indian music gaining popularity worldwide, there is a great opportunity to further grow in this sector," Modi had said in a tweet last month.

Percussion instruments such as drums and xylophones have found favour in the US, Germany and Nepal while wind instruments such as flutes, clarinets, bagpipes and trumpets are a hit in Canada, Germany and the Netherlands. Malaysia is the largest buyer of made-in-India accordions. Organs and other instruments whose sound is produced or amplified electrically, and the country witnessed the highest increase in growth, at 546.25% year-on-year, to $1.98 million in the first five months of the fiscal.

As per an ICRIER report, there is a decline in the demand for Indian musical instruments but rising demand for guitars and keyboards.

"The introduction of low-cost electronic instruments such as the electronic tabla and tanpura has led to a marginal decline in the demand for Indian musical instruments," ICRIER said, adding that despite an increase in cost, the demand for guitars has overshot that for all other instruments.