Why the ‘Make in India’ Movement Might Just Be What the Indigenous Arts & Crafts of India Need

The ‘Make in India’ programme is an ambitious nation-building initiative to encourage more multinational and overseas companies to invest in manufacturing in India. However, there are several small and large arts & crafts setups in India that will also benefit from the support of this movement.

India’s 3,000 crafts and millions of craftsmen in the Art & Craft space present the country with a large opportunity for Make in India. The Arts & Crafts born from hundreds of years of traditions, apprenticeship, and improvisations can easily be leveraged to create big Make in India opportunities for India’s rural and urban youth. The designs, the expertise, processes, and materials exist. All that’s required is repositioning and rethinking to make it attractive for the youth to join, the country to buy, and for the export market to be tapped.

With the renewed interest throughout the world in things natural and organic, and in sustainable development, frugal engineering, and production, we need to revive what we have always had for centuries.