Handicraft industry data on artisans, units soon

NEW DELHI: India’s handicraft and handloom sector will soon have a data set of its own outlining the number of units operating across the country and the number of artisans engaged.

The government aims to use data to frame a targeted policy to boost the sector which is seen to have huge potential for employment generation and exports.

The data would be used to develop satellite account specific to ‘handmade in India’ so as to assess the actual contribution of this important sector to the national economy. A satellite account is a term developed by the United Nations to measure the size of economic sectors that are not defined as industries in national accounts.


Niti Aayog has recently invited application for conducting research study/survey on India’s handicraft sector with an objective to arrive at the policy prescription on the sector. The sample size of the survey is expected to be 12,000 units concentrated in four states with three districts in each state.