LUCKNOW, India — If you happen to be in India, traveling the Delhi to Agra route to see the Taj Mahal, one of the world’s seven wonders, you could soon visit a handicrafts park.
India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh is setting up its first handicrafts park on the route to promote the state’s diverse traditional craftsmanship.
The rich traditional handicrafts—including Banarasi sarees, brass works of Moradabad, perfumes from Kannauj, Lucknow’s chikankari (intricate hand embroidery), and terracotta art of Gorakhpur—are said to be world-famous. In fact, every district of the state has at least one special product integral to its identity.
Apart from promoting handicraft, the park will feature workshops, factories, and outlets making, showcasing and selling the wide-ranging handicrafts of the state to domestic and global visitors, aiming at conserving the traditional crafts, providing employment to thousands of artisans of the state, and boosting the handicrafts sector’s contribution to the state’s economy.
A total of 76 industrialists have also acquired land at the park spread over 50 acres to set up their factories at the cost of INR 403 crore ($55 million). The factories will provide permanent employment to 22,144 people.
“Today, I feel very proud to share that during the past 4-4.5 years, Uttar Pradesh has emerged as the most preferred investment destination,” said Satish Mahana, Industrial Development Minister, referring to the sale of land in the area to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises over the years.
“There has been a lot of transformation in the state as far as industrial development is concerned owing to the government’s zero-tolerance policy on law and order.”
Prominent among the 76 investors at the park include Vikas Exports, which deals in wood, metal, and marble works. Vikas Exports has been allotted 5,000 square meters (53,820 square feet) of land to set up its venture.
Similarly, land has been allotted to The Silk Factory, Rateria Exports, Narayan Creation, Wazir Chand & Co, Dux India Industries Private Limited, Dwar Footwear Industries, and Specialist Home Concepts.
While on the one hand, the park will enable people to acquire famous works of the state’s handicrafts under the same roof, on the other, it will provide a huge market for these products, boosting Uttar Pradesh’s handicrafts business. It will facilitate the export of handicrafts to different countries of the world.
The Yogi Adityanath government’s schemes like One District, One Product seek to promote local artisans and local handicrafts and artworks.
Entrepreneurs working in the handicrafts sector are looking forward to operating in the first handicraft park in the state, according to officials from Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority.
(With inputs from ANI)
Edited by Amrita Das and Krishna Kakani
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