Goans in Mumbai missing their own handicraft from the state or those wanting to buy Goa’s craft will soon have a place to shop for it.
Goa’s Handicraft Corporation will strengthen its presence in Mumbai by starting an emporium in Goa Bhavan, shortly.
Goa Handicrafts Rural and Small Scale Industries Development Corporation’s (GHRSSIDC) managing director Nikhil Desai told that the state government has assured to give place to put up new emporium at Bhavan.
“This will give boost to Goan handicraft across the country, as Mumbai is a major business metropolitan city,” Desai stated.
The Goa Bhavan at Mumbai has been recently renovated at a cost of Rs 1.10 crores.
The corporation has already made its presence felt in Delhi during Commonwealth Games by distributing brochures and pamphlets.
“We mostly concentrated on Delhi metro stations. Though the numbers of visitors as expected were less for CWG, we managed to get good response from the public including foreigners,” Desai said.
Around 30,000 brochures and 20,000 leaflets were distributed during the one month long event, which started on October 3.
Goa government’s campaign is funded by Central Development Commissioner for Handicraft who has sanctioned Rs 21 lakh for first phase and Rs 46 lakh for the second phase.
The corporation had chalked out a comprehensive plan to use the mega event as an opportunity to attract people across the world in its handicraft emporiums.
“The basic idea behind this concept was to introduce Aparant to the people outside Goa. We have failed to increase the brand value of Aparant. You go outside Goa; you will find people talking about handicrafts from Kerala, Karnataka, Assam and other states but no one is aware about Aparant,” the director said.
He said that handicraft corporation will opt for e-marketing to sell the products. “We have presence in the cyberspace. After CWG campaign, we expect the foreigners to increasingly visit website and book the handicrafts online,” Desai added.
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