India's handicrafts — handloom textiles, pottery, brass and metalware, woodcarving, embroidery and more — are a living tradition spread across thousands of clusters. The sector supports about 64.66 lakh handloom and handicraft artisans, 64% of them women and most from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. Handicraft exports, excluding hand-knotted carpets, grew from ₹20,082.53 crore in 2014-15 to ₹33,122.79 crore in 2024-25.
Handicrafts
Handicrafts
India's handicrafts — textiles, pottery, metalware, woodwork and more — support about 64.66 lakh handloom and handicraft artisans, many in rural areas and 64% of them women. Handicraft exports, excluding hand-knotted carpets, grew from ₹20,082.53 crore in 2014-15 to ₹33,122.79 crore in 2024-25, with 445 handicraft products registered under the GI Act (December 2025) and the One District One Product push behind local crafts.
₹33,123 cr
Handicraft exports, 2024-25
64.66 lakh
Handloom & handicraft artisans
445
Handicraft products registered under the GI Act (Dec 2025)
Key milestones since 2014
2016
Pehchan artisan ID cards launched
2018
GST relief for handicraft items
2023
PM Vishwakarma scheme approved
2024
Pehchan registrations pass 32 lakh
2025
GST on handicrafts cut to 5%
2025
Handicraft exports reach ₹33,123 crore
2026
PM Vishwakarma reaches 30 lakh registrations
2026
New GI certificates at GI summit
2014
0milestones
20142026
Why it matters Handicrafts preserve traditional skills and provide rural, women-led livelihoods, but artisans face low incomes, weak market access and competition from machine-made goods.
- Handicraft exports (excl. hand-knotted carpets): ₹20,082.53 cr (2014-15) → ₹33,122.79 cr (2024-25)
- About 64.66 lakh handloom and handicraft artisans, 64% women; 445 handicraft products registered under the GI Act (December 2025)
- Source: Ministry of Textiles, via PIB (December 2025)
History
Notable support
The government has pushed Geographical Indication (GI) tags to protect regional crafts, the One District One Product (ODOP) scheme to market local specialities, and e-commerce and export platforms to widen artisans' reach. Handicrafts are also central to India's cultural diplomacy and tourism.
How it works
Handicrafts are made by millions of individual artisans, mostly in rural homes and largely women — weavers, potters, metalworkers, embroiderers. Government support works through cluster development (shared facilities, design and marketing help), GI (Geographical Indication) tags that protect and brand regional crafts like Pashmina or Channapatna toys, and increasingly e-commerce platforms that connect artisans directly to buyers, cutting out middlemen.
Outlook
Handicraft exports reached ₹33,122.79 crore in 2024-25 and the sector supports about 64.66 lakh handloom and handicraft artisans — a rare source of rural, women-led income and a carrier of India's cultural heritage. The next stage is direct market access — e-commerce and ONDC listings that bypass middlemen — alongside GI protection, design support for modern tastes, and PM Vishwakarma skilling and credit so young artisans keep traditional crafts alive.
By the numbers
₹20,082.53 → ₹33,122.79 crore handicraft exports, excluding hand-knotted carpets (2014-15 → 2024-25). 64.66 lakh handloom and handicraft artisans, 64% women. 445 handicraft products registered under the GI Act (December 2025); ODOP. Source: Ministry of Textiles and DPIIT, via PIB.
Data current to: FY 2014-15 and FY 2024-25
Source: Ministry of Textiles, PIB backgrounder of 9 December 2025 (linked) — exports of handicrafts excluding hand-knotted carpets rose from ₹20,082.53 crore in 2014-15 to ₹33,122.79 crore in 2024-25; India has about 64.66 lakh handloom and handicraft artisans, 64% of them women. On the narrower DGCI&S commodity basis, handicrafts excluding handmade carpets were ₹15,855.1 crore in 2025-26 (PIB, 22 April 2026); the two bases are not comparable. No official year-by-year series from 2014-15 is published, so no chart is shown. · link