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Annual Report 2007-08
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| Home : Finance & Services : Rural Initiatives | :: RURAL INITIATIVES |
Introduction
India has a very rich and diverse base of artisan related industry which is highly
employment intensive, eco-friendly and based on traditional skills. Typically, these
employ simple manufacturing processes that use hand tools or simple machines with
low energy usage for fulfilling the local market needs. Such products may be
handmade textiles, handicrafts, bamboo products, agro products, artwork like
paintings, artifacts, metal based products, etc and are generally produced in clusters.
Bank’s Focus
Exim Bank, as part of its agri business initiative, has been endeavouring to assist
exports of products from rural and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Towards
this end, the Bank has assisted exports of honey, financed setting up of food
processing plants in select states, exports of dried flowers, medicinal plants, etc.,
where the SMEs supported have developed backward linkages with farmers / rural
poor for procurement of raw materials. Exim Bank has also financed a unit for exports
of handmade paper, which is increasingly getting accepted abroad. However,
considering the absence of an institutional support mechanism for export of rural
products on an ongoing basis, a need was felt to take up export marketing activities
of such rural enterprises in a more structured and systematic manner.
It was with this objective that Bank took up a new initiative in seeking to provide
international market access to products from rural grassroot enterprises. With a view,
therefore, to support and scale up Indian handicrafts and non-farm products from
rural India, Bank has partnered with select NGOs in different states in India. While
some of the activities of these NGOs are oriented towards the concerned state,
others’ encompass entire India.
Bank’s Initiatives
Exim Bank, today, has partnership arrangements in place with DHAN Foundation
(DHAN), Madurai, Tamil Nadu, a professional development organisation working for
poverty reduction through capacity building; BASIX, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, a
new generation livelihood promotion institution and pioneer microfinance institution in
India; Uravu, a trust based in Wayanad, Kerala, engaged in development of
bamboo-based rural products; and CARE-India, an international developmental and
humanitarian organisation established in 1950 in India fighting poverty in India.
Further, the Bank, in association with NABARD and Bank of India, is in dialogue with
NGOs in USA to promote export of Madhubani paintings from Bihar. All these
partnership arrangenments aim at promoting exports, especially from the rural areas,
for the products made by these partners and their associates.
Exim Bank is working on various fronts with these institutions to support rural
products. While rural non-farm products, artifacts and handicrafts produced by the
partner SHGs find only local markets or, to a lesser extent, urban markets in metros,
they rarely reach the higher end international markets where they can derive more
value. This is despite the fact that these rural products and handicrafts have strong
‘product-equity’ and would capture higher value if properly marketed overseas. The
need to market overseas is further buttressed by an increasing awareness among the
global populace at large, about ethical and fair trade organisation, products of which
fetch a premium in the developed country markets.
Other Initiatives
Exim Bank’s efforts are aimed at facilitating not only the visibility of rural products in
the international market but also to find alternative channels through partnership
arrangements with corporates in India. Towards this end, the Bank was successful in
getting a mandate from ITC Ltd. to market their ‘Mangaldeep’ brand of agarbattis
(incense sticks) in select overseas markets leveraging Bank’s strong network.
Further, ITC has mandated Uravu for sourcing incense stick holder made of bamboo
exclusively to embrace ITC’s high-end agarbatti range. The Mangaldeep agarbatti
and the wooden holder are being exhibited by ITC in a craft fair in Paris.
Exim Bank has supported Subiksha Ayurvedics (Subiksha), a Coimbatore-based
Cottage Industry firm engaged in manufactures aromatic hand-rolled agarbattis
(incense sticks). Subiksha has developed a range of ‘proprietary’ flavour formulations
that are added in its incense sticks. Exim Bank, besides assisting Subiksha in
acquiring international market presence through its overseas network, is also
extending export credit for supporting its exports to Brazil and Israel.
The products of Exim Bank’s partner NGOs have been displayed at international
events including Pangea Artisan Market and Café (PAMC) and Commonwealth-India
Small Business Competitiveness Development programme. PAMC is part of
International Finance Corporation (IFC)’s Grassroot business initiative under which
IFC has set up a store dedicated for display of various handmade merchandise/crafts
from various rural areas of the world, primarily made by small businesses.
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