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4 HANDICRAFT AND BRASSWARE SECTOR

4.1 Introduction

In order to establish a broad background for research, it is important to discuss about the

role and significance of the concerned sector of study. In this chapter, we make an attempt to

discuss the characteristics of handicraft industry, focussing on brass based metal artware sector in

Moradabad city of Uttar Pradesh by using secondary data. The chapter provides a brief overview

of India’s position in global handicraft market and some of the challenges that are faced by this

sector. Further, specific context of brassware sector is established in the form of its origination,

evolution, participants and processes involved in value chain of the metal artware products.

4.2 Indian Handicraft

According to a report of Development Commissioner Handicraft Board (2001), the term

handicraft refers to the handmade articles which are produced by the craftsman with or without

tools, simple instruments operated directly by craftsman mainly by hand. The Indian Handicraft

sector which comes under the cottage industry, represents India’s rich cultural heritage. The sector

has spread in various parts of India in small pockets and it produces wide range of handicrafts

which are not found anywhere in the World (Desai, 2011). Handicrafts sector is gaining more and

more popularity and importance day by day. After satisfying basic necessities, handicrafts are now

utilized for creativity, art and style to decorate the homes, offices, showrooms, galleries and public

places (Malhotra, 2000). Handcrafted art wares and giftware have gained lot of importance not

only in daily life but also in generating international business contributing to foreign revenue

generation (Garg, 2012).

The handicrafts sector provides employment to a vast segment of craftsmen in rural and

semi urban areas and also contributes substantially in foreign exchange generation while also

preserving India’s cultural heritage. The total employment in the sector at the end of Tenth Five

year plan (2002-07) was 67.70 lakhs people (Mathew, 2011). However, in the changing world

scenario, these craftsmen need institutional support to meet the changing consumer taste and

trends. The drawback of this sector is that there is a lack of educated workforce, and they have

poor exposure to new technologies, market intelligence etc. In view of this, it is high time that the

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Indian handicraft sector moves forward from its primary inherent skill, technique and traditional

craftsmanship to an advance level of expertise to achieve a leading position in the fast growing

competitiveness with others countries like China, Korea, Thailand etc.

4.2.1 Handicraft Categories

According to Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH, 2004), the products that

fall under the classification of handicrafts are - a) Art metal ware b) Wood ware c) Hand printed

textiles and scarves d) Embroidered and crocheted goods e) Shawls made by hand f) Zari and Zari

goods g) Imitation jewellery h) Miscellaneous Handicraft Categories.

The report also provides details about the different categories of handicrafts - shown below

in Table 2.

Table 2: Categories of Hnadicrafts

Sr.

No

Category Sr.

No.

Category

1 Musical Instruments 13 Horn articles

2 Lace and lace goods 14 Articles of wicker work, bamboo, etc.

3 Buttons and studs 15 Dolls and toys

4 Hat wares 16 Articles of grass and fibre

5 Attars 17 Paper machine products

6 Sculpture and statutory in materials 18 Stuffed animals

7 Stone works made by hand 19 Fancy glass small wares

8 Paintings, drawings made by hand 20 Hookah of base metal

9 Pottery 21 Trophies

10 Articles of fur, feather and human hairs 22 Antiques

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11 Articles of tortoise 23 Postal packages

12 Walking sticks 24 Articles of jute

Source: EPCH (2004)

4.2.2 Handicraft Market

The current global handicraft market is valued at more than $ 400 billion, out of which

India’s share is less than 2%. During the last 10 years, the average annual growth rate of Indian

handicraft exports has been 15% and it is projected to increase by 42% in the next 5 years. USA

and Europe are two of the biggest markets for Indian handicrafts with USA accounting for 30% of

the total exports and Europe around 34% in the year 2004-05. Other countries such as Germany,

France, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Canada and Italy also buy substantial portion of Indian handicrafts.

While the exports have grown in terms of the volume, the profit margins of entrepreneurs have

been under pressure due to increased cost of production and globally competitive environment. In

places such as Rajsamand (silver minakari), Bhopal (zari work), Bhadohi (carpets), and Indore

(sequins and embroidery), wages have not improved in last two decades and women or children

employed in zari, gems, and jewellery units still earn a meagre 10–15 rupees per day. In this

industry, mostly profits are realised by the middlemen and the export houses, leaving very little

scope for improvement in wages of the actual artisans (eleventh five year plan -2007-12).

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Figure 8: Handicraft export trend over last 15 years, Source (Thakur, 2012)

Thakur (2012) has pointed in his article that handicraft sector in India suffered a major

setback due to the economic recession of 2008. Exports declined during this time and this sector

is still struggling to come out of the 2008 global melt down. During the peak of business (2006-

07), exports touched Rs 17,288 crore and government had projected that this sector will achieve

revenues worth Rs 30,000 crore by the year 2010. Today government has initiated many steps to

revive this industry still they are not only far away from their target; this industry is struggling

hard to reach 2006-07 export level.

Demand for Indian handicraft from traditionally strong markets such as USA and Europe

has reached a saturation point and is slowly decreasing. There is a strong need to focus on the

emerging markets such as Latin American, Australia and Africa which have shown positive growth

rate in the past one decade. India has tremendous scope and opportunity to become world’s leading

supplier of the handicraft products, having all the characteristics needed for handicraft like cultural

heritage, highly skilled craftsman, availability low cost labour, rich diversity and large number of

traditional art forms. Virgin art forms of India also need to be promoted aggressively in the global

market because there are many art forms still confined within the small towns of India and only a

small part of overall Indian handicraft is exposed to the world (Thakur, 2012).

As reported by National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER, 1999), 29% of

artisans within Indian handicraft industry are in the state of Uttar Pradesh, second only to the

eastern states which account for 43% of this population. Gujarat and Rajasthan contribute about

13% to the artisan population with rest 15% being contributed by the remaining states. This

suggests the hidden potential of other states which is yet to be explored. Though some other states

are also exporting their art wares, a major part of the arts of these states remained unexposed to

the outside World. Despite government’s efforts is showcasing these arts in international trade

fairs, there’s been very little impact on the arts and artisans. In order to survive and thrive in the

global handicraft market and promote export of these products, there is need to identify artisans in

these states and provide them training on contemporary art forms, product pricing, reducing

production timing and enhancing its volume.

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4.3 Brassware Sector in Moradabad

India is one of the prominent suppliers of handicrafts in the global market. It is one of the

key export segments of Indian trade with significant contributions coming from Uttar Pradesh.

Moradabad city from Uttar Pradesh, has been chosen for the study. It has a long history in

handicraft products. It is the hub of metal ware handicraft products and contributes significantly

in the foreign revenue generation. It produces a range of items from utility goods to variety of

lifestyle items. Most popular of all the brass craft originating from India comes from the city of

Moradabad. It is the biggest exporter of brass wares in the country and rightly acquires the name

“Brass City”.

Moradabad was established in 1600 by Murad, the son of the Mughal Emperor Shahjahan;

as a result the city came to be known as Moradabad. Moradabad is situated at the bank of River

Ram Ganga which is a tributary to the great Ganges9 and it’s situated at mere 167 km (104 miles)

from national capital New Delhi. It population is close to four million and encompasses various

ethnicities and religions. Famous for export of brass handicrafts to North America and Europe it

is also known as "Brass City" or Peetal Nagri (in Hindi language). The origins of city’s brass work

are not exactly known. As per Helan R. Sekar (2007), soil of the place was suitable for moulding

brass as it was sandy in nature. This soil was heavily used in earliest known metal moulding

practices such as ‘para’ and ‘darja’ methods in which clay was used. Decorative art called ‘Shia

qalam’ was done in original Moradabadi style and it was very famous in the Mughal period. The

first Collector of Moradabad, Mr. W. Lacister, got attracted to this art in 1801 and he encouraged

it a lot. Following this, artisans found new buyers within the British staying in India and abroad.

The first export of brassware was made to UK in 1857.

Slowly the craftsmen of Moradabad started manufacturing different varieties of brassware.

Over period, two types of products that were extremely successful were heavy kitchenware and

utility utensils for local and regional markets and mughal style ornaments with exquisite nakashi

or engraving. Slowly, Moradabad started getting recognized world over for its brass works of

exquisite beauty.

9 see Appendix 5 for geographical map of the areas

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Mandal et al. (2014) believed that the brassware industry originated from Moradabad and

spread to the rest of the country. It is said that Muslim families from Persia who settled in this city

introduced the modern brass craft as they brought with them the art of intricate design and

sophisticated tools. In 1920s, an American firm started to engrave thermos flask covers in

Moradabad. Slowly the town extended its export work in the foreign market and carved its name

in the handicraft industry throughout the World. According to the annual report of ministry of

textiles (2011-12), today the brass craft of Moradabad is exported to USA, Britain, Canada,

Germany and Middle East Asia. This craft is spread all over the city and it has evolved as one of

the major revenue generators over the years. Most of the manufacturing units are located in rural

and small towns, handicrafts industry is a major source of income for rural communities,

employing over more than one lakh artisans who are mainly poor. Moradabad as a city in U.P. is

one of the well-known District Headquarters for its dominance in Railways, Handy Craft Industry

and Agriculture Products, well levelled fields and is surrounded many prominent rivers like Main

Ganga, Ram Ganga, Dhela, Gangan, Kosi and some more seasonal rivers. The agricultural land is

very much fertile for Wheat, Rice, Fruits like Mangos and other crops like Mentha and vegetables.

Mentha is used for many chemical applications and has huge export potential. Mentha rates appear

in local newspapers along with other agriculture products. In addition to this, Moradabad is blessed

by nature with peculiar soft sand taken from nearby river beds which has outstanding binding

properties, making it ideal for metal casting moulds. This unique binding property of local sand

has given an ‘Edge’ to Moradabad to become a hub in metal casting and thus Moradabad became

very well-known centre for Export of Brass wares and Handy Crafts. As on today also, it is well

established that Moradabad is dominated by technicians/experts/Master Crafts Men in brass wares

and handy craft works from Muslim community. It is said that at the time of partition of the

country, many Muslim technicians migrated to newly formed West Pakistan. There, they initiated

their traditional business of metal castings. To their surprise, they found that metal cast pieces were

of inferior quality. Though they were expert in their mould making trade and metal castings

techniques, even after their best efforts, they couldn’t get the desired quality. It forced them to sit

and find the reasons of their failures. Good sense prevailed and of-late they realized that the

problem was not with their technique but with poor quality of casting moulds they had prepared

with sand available there locally. Finally they concluded that local sand available in Pakistan did

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not match with sand available in Moradabad Rivers. This incidence and self-introspection made

them to rethink. Soon, most of them being skilful but illiterate became jobless. This disastrous

migration brought them to the stage of starvation. Finally they decided to serve their mother land

and came back to Moradabad/India. Today, many of them are well established manufacturers and

exporters. Art-wares manufactured and exported by these artisans can be spotted at many world

class retail stores like Walmart, Tangent and iKea etc.

According to Helan R. Sekar (2007), in the pre-independence era Moradabad used to serve

the local and national market only and exports were limited. Lot of people from Punjab and other

paces migrated to Uttar Pradesh during partition and they started what is now known as the

exporter community of Moradabad. Slowly with exposure to domestic and international market,

the business started growing and as a result many export houses were setup in Moradabad.

However, Delhi was the export hub with lot of buying agents who used to mediate between the

brassware exporters of Moradabad and international customers. From the late sixties exporters

found it difficult to expand the business from Delhi and therefore many of them shifted to

Moradabad.

Most of the work in Moradabad handicrafts is still dispersed and informal and only small

numbers of the artisans have their in-house manufacturing units and workshops. Small

manufacturing units are spread across the city, with each of them hosting furnaces, moulding tools

and polishing machines to manufacture brassware. The adoption of technology in this industry is

very low and hand powered labour predominates. This kind of a setup has its own advantages and

limitations. Since most of the work is done at very small scale it enables the workers to work

without huge investments and fixed cost. Most of the work is done at home with the help of family

members and thus provides employment to those who are otherwise unemployed. But the

dispersed nature of production increases costs of developing an efficient value chain for production

and marketing. The value chains are long and relationships along the chain are non-transparent.

Margin calculations are ad-hoc and exploitative with artisans not receiving returns equivalent to

their skill and labour. Each transaction in the value chain is a different transaction where in each

party attempts to gain maximum profit. The handicraft sector thrives on the dynamism of small

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scale firms that are still evolving in their understanding of fair and progressive practices in

sustainable production, employment and income generation.

During the initial phases of this study, the researcher collected primary data about business

houses in Moradabad and it was observed that majority of the business houses were family run

firms. Firm owners were not very educated and had learnt this business of art ware and giftware

either from their family or peers in the industry. Most of the firm owners had business background

and they had ventured in various businesses as per the market demand and availability of business

opportunities.

Firms work on consignment to consignment basis and are preoccupied with short-term

survival issues than long term development and standardization of processes. Work is still done in

the traditional way and not much of automation has happened in these units. Some of the

entrepreneurs have exposure to new technology mostly used in China or other countries, but due

to lack of government support and high cost of machinery they have not bought machinery. Most

of the hiring is done by external sources and entrepreneurs do not feel the dearth of people.

Learning is informal and on-the-job. Skill deficiencies tend to be solved with the labour market by

employing previously trained staff at higher wages. Trained manpower is poached from one

employer to another.

Since work schedule revolves around export orders in hand, exporters make their best

efforts to achieve the target by deploying skilled manpower in that particular work area. Hence,

not much of emphasis is given to hiring people on rolls and providing them any long term benefits

as per labour laws. Engagement of skilled manpower is seasonal. Wages are not fixed and are

based on number of units produced by the engaged worker/artisan.

There are two kinds of Jobs in this industry craftsmanship which involves preparation of

moulds or engraving and the second type is the procedural work which involves preparing

prototype of the samples sent by the customer, grinding, wielding, finishing, powder coating,

lacquering and finally packaging. People, who are craftsman, are available in the city and they

work on contract basis for more than with one entrepreneur. People engaged in procedural work

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get trained on the job and are available on seasonal basis. In harvest season they prefer harvesting

then working in different export houses.

It was told during the interview that in this industry, work is divided mainly for three

seasons’ summer, fall and winter. Each season has its set orders for manufacturing and export. In

summer season sale of planters, bird feeders, bird bathing accessories is more as compared to fall

season where candle holder, tea light holder, table wares are more preferred. Winter season is full

of Charismas items like deer, decorative items for Christmas etc. Most of the work is done between

July and August to deliver orders for Christmas. Apart from these three seasons, entrepreneurs get

orders for everyday use items also, like toilet accessories, souvenirs etc.

Brass, iron, copper, aluminium and stainless steel are the basic raw material used in this

industry. Plain polish, nickel, silver, chrome, brass antique, copper antique, zinc antique, gold

plating are different forms of finishing. The shape, design and categories of these products are

based on customer demand and cost of raw material. Initially this business was based only on brass

but due to steep increase in the prices of brass and copper; aluminium, iron, stainless steel were

introduced as raw material. Entrepreneurs travel internationally and draw reference samples of

certain art ware and giftware items, which is prototyped in Moradabad using different raw

materials. Once the buyer approves a particular item, bulk order is placed and delivered abroad.

Apart from this entrepreneurs also have in house facility for producing designs.

Most of the firms have large factory premises which are equipped with all kinds of facilities

from manufacturing to packaging. But shop floor workers were observed to be working with bare

minimum precautions against occupational hazards. During details study interviews, most of the

firm owners said that they obey all compliance related to labour laws and factories act.

As per the entrepreneurs government has little role to play in this industries development.

There is lot of scope of improvement in infrastructure facilities like roads, electricity, new

machinery, its technical support and new technology. Entrepreneurs face huge challenges in timely

delivery of consignments during peak season, distance from Mumbai port, scarcity of sufficient

container, adverse weather condition during July to august are some of the impediments. While all

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these impediments are primary concern for the manufacturers and exporter, for the artisans the

ever decreasing interest of the next generation in this craft is a bigger concern.

4.3.1 Metal Artware

In ancient times, artisans used to express their skills on stone and wood, way before the

metals were discovered by mankind. Discovery of metals made human life easier and apart from

utility ware, these metals were used for making decorative crafts – merchandise that were aesthetic

as well as utilitarian. One of the metal crafts, still very eminent in India, is brass craft so much so

that India is one of the largest brass makers in the World. Innumerable crafts including both utility

ware and decorative pieces are made of brass. Decorative like statues of God, humans, birds and

animals, chandeliers, lamp shades, wind chimes and utility wares like cutlery, Jugs, vase, planters,

furniture and ash trays are among the infinite crafts made of brass which are in huge demand in

domestic and international markets. In India itself, brass is considered as pure and sacred. Diyas

or lamps, God idols, Pooja thali (plate) made of brass are used by Hindus for religious purposes.

In his research Roy (1999) has mentioned that brass, bronze and copper have been the most

prominent metals used in India over the years. In metals, forging and casting are two major

processes. Forging provides utility ware and casting produces vessels that can be decorated. The

decorative metal work includes brightening the surface by polishing or plating and designing.

Designing of the metal ware is done by engraving on the surface or on a tin which is fixed

externally. Further the engraved products are coloured by lacquer. Though most of the centres of

metal art manufacturers had both hammerers and engravers, some of the towns like Bidar and

Moradabad were specially known for their decorative work. According to Thakur (2012),

handicraft sector accounts for business worth 10,000 crores and employs more than 70 million

people. However, its share in the global market is negligible at less than 2% of the world export

trade of USD 230 billion.

The sector heavily relied on US, UK, Germany, France, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Canada and

Italy markets for handicraft export but demands in these countries have reached a saturation point.

However, there is still not enough emphasis on markets in emerging economies such as Latin

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American, CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States also called Russian Commonwealth),

Australia and African countries that have shown a positive growth rate in the past one decade.

4.3.2 Brassware Sector

Brass is a yellow metal with appearance similar to that of gold. It is an alloy of copper and

Zinc. The standard and commonly used proportion is 60:40 (copper: zinc). Different quality of

brass can be made by varying the proportion of copper and zinc. Brass which makes it a popular

choice among craftsmen and artisans due to its durability, gold like appearance, malleability and

low maintenance which makes it easy to engrave and resistibility to tarnishing

(www.craftformindia.in). Metal craftsmen in India can be divided into two categories: iron

workers and the brass, bronze and coppers workers. The most important metals used in India for

consumption is brass which is made of copper and zinc, bronze made of copper and tin, and also

copper. The assortment of metals and design techniques in different manufacturing regions varied

due to preferences of communities. Hindus preferred alloys over cast iron, copper and bronze. On

the other hand, Muslims had a preference for copper with interior and exterior plating. Thus, it was

in towns with large and prosperous Muslim settlements that the brazier’s art tended to unite with

that of the engraver (Roy, 1999).

Generally an industry is dependent on the location of natural raw material sources, but for

brass industry the raw material used was scrap and not the ores. Hence, this industry grew in small

towns and clusters of villages close to major consuming points. In their paper, Mandal et al. (2014)

have highlighted that India is the largest brass-making country in the world. This art has been

practiced in India for over 5 million years. The major clusteri of brass industries in India as

suggested by them are:

Northern and North Eastern cluster: Moradabad, Aligarh, Hathras and Varanasi in Uttar

Pradesh; Mayurbhang, Dhenkenal, Keonjhar and Sundergarh in Orissa; Jaipur and

Jodhpur in Rajasthan; Jagadhari and Rewari in Haryana; Udhampur, Sambha and Bhansali

in Jammu and Kashmir; Kurkhihar in Bihar; Hazo and Sarthebari in Assam; Purulia,

Bankura, Birbhum, Murshidabad in West Bengal and Delhi etc.

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Southern and Western Cluster: Pembertha and Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh; Bidar,

Negamangala, Mysore and Gadag in Karnataka (Bidriwar); Swamimalai, Nachiarkoil,

Madurai, Kumbakonam, Tirupur and Tanjore in Tamil Nadu; Ambarnath, Thana, Kalyan

and Nasik in Maharashtra; Trichur in Kerala; Jamnagar in Gujarat and Pondicherry, etc.

Table 3 gives a brief on the Country-wise Exports of Brass and Bronze from India.

Table 3: Selected Country-wise Exports of Brass and Bronze from India

(Quantity in Tonne; Value: Rs. in ' 000)

Country

2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09

Qty. Value Qty. Value Qty. Value Qty. Value

Export to

Countries 52233 9956356 52361

1360579

7 39548

1040706

6 31967 8639392

United States

of America 9811 2031336 8484 1908178 5566 1386918 4673 1230941

Germany 1640 364042 2166 588380 2316 719577 2246 645734

United Arab

Emirates 5871 1031587 3371 840186 2824 736621 2161 594775

United

Kingdom 2610 643233 2661 791437 2201 648038 1717 500190

Canada - - - - 2431 383971 3060 470392

Saudi Arabia - - - - 1105 324688 1159 354108

Italy 937 208449 1724 544872 1333 397217 1268 336849

Malaysia - - - - 1012 285853 954 279564

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Taiwan - - - - 2032 501432 785 202304

Hong Kong 4458 711612 4920 1401350 1978 564553 200 52835

Other

Countries 16463 3408324 20789 5400900 16750 4458198 13744 3971700

Australia 1090 221295 1471 426084 1060 285398 - -

China 4187 554352 2321 532865 1713 409399 - -

Chinese Taipei 3271 473345 2878 714595 2032 501432 - -

France 1895 308781 1576 456950 949 273810 - -

Source: www.indiastat.com

In terms of products, brassware industry in Moradabad, a premier metalware centre in the

country, is essentially home based and the handicraft items defined as artware products that are

manufactured in Moradabad can be broadly classified into items such as Electroplated nickel silver

ware, Brass utensils, Copper utensils, Copper alloy utensils, Copper alloy ware electroplated with

nickel/silver, Brass artware, Copper artware, Artware of bronze/similar alloys, Artware of Bidri

and Artware of aluminium. The articles made in Moradabad include traditional decanters, vases,

bowls, finger bowls and more recently table lamps, candle stands, ashtrays, pin trays, coasters and

bells, etc. Common items produced are flower vases, planters, wall plates, candle stands, cutlery,

dinner services etc. The products can be broadly classified into two categories, those, which are

manufactured by sand casting method and those, which are made out of brass sheets.

4.3.3 Industrial Demographics

Moradabad is one of the seven industrial corridors declared by the state government in

industrial policy 1999-2002. The main centre of this industry is in Sambhal, a tehsil of Moradabad

district. There are about 1500 families involved in the production of handicraft items, which

provide job to about 5000 people. There are about 7182 other small scale industrial units in

Moradabad district apart from brass and handicraft industries – providing employment to more

than 28000 people. Prominent among these are mentha oil, rice mills, sugar mills, cement and

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building material, agricultural instruments, animal feed, coal bricks, oil mills etc. There are also

about forty four units of medium and large scale industries, which includes Distillery, Sugar Mills,

Pulp and Paper, and Pharmaceutical and Chemical Industries etc. Table 4 provides some high level

statistics of the industries in Moradabad.

Table 4: Some of the Industrial Statistics of Moradabad

No. of Running Factories Registered under the Industrial Act 1948

(2007-08) 495

Small Scale Industries (2010-11) 7137

Workers (2010-11) 36915

Source: www.moradabad.nic.in, 1st Jan, 2014

Government is investing lot of money to improve infrastructural facilities for promotion of

industrial activities at Moradabad. These include facilities such as 24-hour uninterrupted power

supply, construction of bypass road. About 450 acres of land has been acquired to develop a new

industrial area for export-oriented units at Pakbara to Dingarpur Road.

Majority of traditional skill trade persons are illiterate but are masters in their trade and are

generally un-parallel to their skill. It is because of their personal experience in the field for a very

long period and the knowledge so acquired. They are very moody and work as per their own will

and terms. They work with their own group. Now days, it is observed that most of the artisans are

5th to 8th class pass and are comfortable in doing normal routine communications and

correspondence work. For meeting high skill requirements, artisans have started acquiring ITI

certificates. In this pursuit, state governments do encourage certificate course in many trades like

Civil, Plumbing, Electrical wiring, Plating, Smithy, Machining, Carpentry, Instrumentation etc.

Factory owners have also made up their mind to appoint ITI certificate holders who prove much

more effective and productive after some field experience. There is further scope of artisans having

higher qualification like class 12th pass and even graduates. With these higher qualifications, they

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may assume the position of a supervisor or even quality inspector which may ensure higher

remuneration and rank.

Opening of retail sector has created diversified market of a variety of products at various

price points. This offers an opportunity for individual entrepreneurs as well as institutions

representing and working for artisans for enhancing employment and accommodating artisans with

varying skill levels. The turning point for Moradabad (so far known as brass city) was in 1980

when other than brass, various other metals like iron, aluminium, copper, glass and wood were

introduced to this art industry. The use of new technologies like electroplating, lacquering, powder

coating etc. gave a new identity to the artesian of Moradabad. From normal handicraft industry

there was a new word was entering the market called article. The demands of the buyer were

increasing. There was a shift in the way the whole business use to happen. The new customer or

buyer is more quality conscious and was coming out with more specifications about the product.

The following table shows the demographic profile of Moradabad city.

Table 5: Demographic Profile of Moradabad

Total Households 11150 102477

Items Gender Slum Urban

Total Population

(Including

Institutional and

Houseless Population)

Male 37680 340314

Female 33265 301269

Total 70945 641583

Population in the Age

Group 0-6

Male 7417 52537

Female 6459 47443

Total 13876 99980

Scheduled Castes

Population

Male 11089 33322

Female 9597 28925

70

Total 20686 62247

Scheduled Tribes

Population

Male 7 102

Female 7 81

Total 14 183

Literates Male 17083 188730

Female 10174 141450

Total 27257 330180

Total Workers Male 16060 157964

Female 1542 12679

Total 17602 170643

Main Workers Male 13742 145307

Female 1035 10149

Total 14777 155456

Cultivators Male 1195 3119

Female 135 346

Total 1330 3465

Agricultural

Labourers

Male 549 1482

Female 66 165

Total 615 1647

Household Industry

Workers

Male 326 8410

Female 74 796

71

Total 400 9206

Other Workers Male 11672 132296

Female 760 8842

Total 12432 141138

Marginal Workers Male 2318 12657

Female 507 2530

Total 2825 15187

Cultivators Male 54 159

Female 39 257

Total 93 416

Agricultural

Labourers

Male 161 588

Female 193 266

Total 354 854

Household Industry

Workers

Male 61 831

Female 54 446

Total 115 1277

Other Workers Male 2042 11079

Female 221 1561

Total 2263 12640

Non-Workers Male 21620 182350

Female 31723 288590

72

Total 53343 470940

Source: Census (2001)

Brassware manufacturing in Moradabad takes place in different types of establishments

such as the factories (exporter units), workshops (karkhanedar units) and in the single process

household units (artisan units). The factories are generally owned by large-scale exporters, which

are comparatively big, both in terms of turnover and number of workers employed.

4.3.4 Members of the Value Chain

The following flow chart from Helen R. Sekar (2007) nicely captures the value chain within

brassware sector of Moradabad and various players in the value chain

Figure 9: Brassware Production and Delivery Value Chain and Workflow (Helen R. Sekar, 2007)

As mentioned earlier, the production structure of the Brassware Industry in Moradabad can

broadly be divided into three segments

Exporters / Traders

Brassworkers / Artisans10

Middlemen / Agents serving as a link between the two

10 See Appendix 1 for details of artisans involved in this value chain

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Exporters are the well-known formal sector of this industry and household units represent

the informal/unorganized sector. Most of the 600 plus exporters of this district are involved in

finishing, quality control, shipping and order management. They place manufacturing orders to

subcontractors and these orders get further distributed among the smaller household units. Overall,

close to ninety percent of production is outsourced these subcontractors who are called

'karkhandars'. As per ASK (2007), there are around 2200 ‘karkhandars’ in the cluster and 1600

small sub-contractors. The later outsource jobs to household units who are mainly involved in the

casting process. There are around 20,000 such household units in the cluster. There are around

5500 home based units who provide ancillary works like polishing, scrapping, wielding, grinding

and engraving. During data collection it was told that now most of the exporters prefer to carry out

all the activities like manufacturing, final finishing, checking, packaging and shipment within their

factory premises.

An Artisan is very critical and important link for a ‘production chain’ in this industry. They

contribute in timely delivery of the order in the required shape, finish and size. It is a well-known

fact that no output is possible without active involvement of an artisan. But, on the other, it is also

believed that handicraft export industry runs purely on the leading initiative of export industry

owner and his innovative approach towards new samples as per prevailing market trends. But with

this all importance of an artisan cannot be underestimated. For an output in a handicraft industry,

involvement and active participation of an artisan is a ‘must’. Under these circumstances, due care

and attention is given to an artisan especially in production chain.

In any handicraft export industry, multi trade skills are required. These skills are acquired

primarily by inheritance and by family culture and guidance. Formal education also plays a role.

The artisans pick up the traditional skills from family, relatives and friends and on the job training.

Now days, institutions like ITIs (Industrial Training Institute) run by state governments also play

a great role in enhancing technical education amongst masses. To meet ever increasing

requirement of high quality products, owners do arrange trainings at recognized training institutes

outside. The trainings are also arranged by high level machine suppliers in their training institute

and also at factory end as on the job training.

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Contractors, Thekedars or karkhanedars (in Hindi) are the lowest rung in the value chain,

but they perform an important service of enabling employment for the artisans. Many contractors

are from artisans families themselves and also poor and not educated. As per (Roy 1999), the

karkhanedar (or Kothiwal, literally the shed owner) was the link between the merchant, engravers,

moulders, the joiners and so on. Nearly all karkhandars family members or relatives used to work

in their own business and used to get trained on the job.

These players have a significant role to play in the value chain that delivers brassware

products to the consumer in global market. There are primarily three scenarios of brassware

product production and delivery where these participants are involved. The following flow

diagrams shows the business process followed by these firms for different types of orders.

Figure 10: Business Process Flow for Orders from Regular Buyers (Source: Primary Data)

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The following flow diagram shows the business process followed by the firms to procure

orders through repeat orders. Here mostly orders for products already sold to the customers are re

orders. Repeat orders are a good source of income for the entrepreneurs and also help a long term

relationship between the buyers and the entrepreneurs

Figure 11: Business Process Flow for Repeated Orders (Source: Primary Data)

The following flow diagram shows the process flow followed by the industry to procure

orders from trade fairs and exhibitions. Here the mostly new customers are approached and

samples are shown to get orders

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Figure 12: Business Process Flow for Trade Fairs and Exhibition Orders (Source: Primary Data)

4.4 Discussion

Given the facts presented above, it is clear that this sector has a high potential for growth

in terms of employment and foreign revenue generation. However, there are two major challenges

faced by the craft segments. The demand for traditional articles of consumption and availability of

raw materials for manufacturing the same has reduced over time. The gap in these two areas can

only be filled through product innovations and cost effective sourcing use of raw materials. Hence

appropriate measures should be taken by the government to train and update the uneducated skilled

artisans. Measures should be taken to sensitize the artisans on the changing international fashion

trends and the importance of innovation in products. Avenues for sourcing alternate raw material

should be made available at wider scale. There is also a clear need to bring policy initiatives from

the central and state governments to ensure growth and development of handicrafts industry.

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In addition to these broader policy initiatives by the government, there are many other

factors which contribute to the growth of the firms engaged in this sector. Each firm has its own

set of challenges to grow and survive in the market. In the following chapters the researcher has

discussed the role of internal and external environment in the growth of selected firms for this

study.