Handicraft,handloom export hub coming up near Rajarhat

Kolkata, May 4 (UNI) West Bengal will set up a handicraft and handloom export hub near the city in Rajarhat, to help boost exports and facilitate the artisans to regularly interact with foreign buyers.

Principal Secretary for Small-scale Enterprises and Textiles Dr G D Gautama told UNI here today that the department was preparing a roadmap for setting up of the export hub.

Sources said the project will begin this year and would be built in an area of one acre.

In order to help the artisans to find potential markets in the domestic and the international market, the department has chalked out four-pronged plans.

Dr Gautama said that four ''haats'' on the lines of the popular ''Dilli Haat'', would be set up at Durgapur, Siliguri, Bolpur and in the city. These ''haats'' would meet the requirements of the regional markets.

He also said the marketing initiatives were being strengthened on one hand while on the other, the government had also ordered a survey to find out the demand for Bengal's handicrafts in the United States and the United Kingdom.

UNI