Samples worth Rs 2-2.5 lakhs dispatched to US, Iran
For the first time ever since its retail venture 'Garvi Gujarat' was launched, Gujarat State Handloom and Handicrafts Development Corporation Limited (GSHHDC) has bagged export orders for handloom products. The corporation has received orders from firms in the US and Iran.
What's more, samples worth Rs 2-2.5 lakhs have been dispatched to these countries. GSHHDC supports the handicrafts and handloom artisans through various schemes, procures the produce from the artisans and markets it under the brand name of Garvi Gurjari across the nation.
"Handloom, albeit a tad costlier than machine made fabric and garments, offer tremendous quality and customisability. Moreover, one can avail more variety in terms of designs in handloom than through machine made. However, the craft was suffering in the state until recently. Through our retail emporiums Garvi Gujarat, we have begun to target the up-market segment and begun reaping results. It is for the first time since Garvi Gujarat were set up that we have bagged even export orders for the handloom products," said SK Chaturvedi, managing director of GSHHDC.
Currently, the corporation runs around 22 Garvi Gujarat emporiums in cities like New Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, and Rajkot, among others.
In order to boost handloom sales, Chaturvedi said, the corporation began mixing products. "Instead of selling just handloom, we began to double it with handicrafts like block printing. Soon the sales picked up. We hope to soon establish Garvi Gujarat as a premium brand of handloom and handicrafts," he added.
Set up since 1973, it is only the recent past that GSHHDC has seen a considerable growth in its sales. For instance, in 2006-07, the corporation registered a sales growth of 40 per cent over 2005-06. During 2005-06 the corporation had registered total sales of Rs 7.50 crore. However, during 2006-07 the sales have taken a major jump when GSHHDC posted a turnover of Rs 10.60 crore.
GSHHDC has six procurement centres in Gujarat where the artisans can sell their produce including Sankheda, Palanpur, Patan, Gandhinagar, Bhuj and Ahmedabad and 19 showrooms including two in Ahmedabad, two in Kolkata, one each in Anand, Bangalore, Baroda, Bhuj, Bharuch, Delhi, Gandhinagar, Hyderabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Mumbai, Rajpipla, Rajkot, Surat and Surendranagar.
