The Essential Commodities Act is an act of Parliament of India which

was established to ensure the delivery of certain commodities or products,

the supply of which if obstructed owing to hoarding or blackmarketing
would affect the normal life of the people. This includes foodstuff, drugs,
fuel (petroleum products)
onion and potato under the Essential Commodity Act:
Stepping up its battle against inflation, The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)
on Wednesday agreed to bring onion and potato under the Essential Commodity Act in a move
to impose stock holding limits and curb hoarding of these two commodities and control

the decision will impose limits on the quantity of onions and potatoes that individuals
and wholesale traders can stockpile. The move will also empower state governments to
take measures to prevent hoarding.
This will enable state governments to continue to take effective de-hoarding operations
under the Essential Commodities Act by fixing stock limits/licensing requirements in
respect of these commodities, especially in view of rising prices, the press statement
said.
The Essential Commodities Act provides for the regulation and control of production,
distribution and pricing of commodities, which are declared as essential for maintaining
or increasing supplies or for securing their equitable distribution and availability at fair
prices

in last year,onions were in news for long period of time and it is one of the factors why congress didnt came in power
again this year.so the new govt take initiative and consider it in essential commodity act.

The Essential Commodities Act is an act of Parliament of India which was established to ensure
the delivery of certain commodities or products, the supply of which if obstructed owing to
hoarding or blackmarketing would affect the normal life of the people. This includes foodstuff,
drugs, fuel (petroleum products).
this will enable state govt to take effective

DEMAND FOR INDIAN HANDICRAFT INDUSTRY

The country of India is known for its ethnicity. Handicrafts form the gateway to this
ethnic nation. So far as art and culture is concerned, India features amongst the culturally
rich countries in the world. The country is fortunate enough to possess some highly
skilled artisans. They have increased the fame of Indian handicrafts around the globe. Till
now, many rural people earn their livelihood from their creative pieces of art.
India, a country with 26 states and 18 languages and more than 1500 dialects offers an
enormous range of handicrafts from each of the states. Major centers in Uttar Pradesh are
Moradabad also known as the "Peetalnagari" (City of Brass), Saharanpur for its wooden
articles, Ferozabad for Glass. The North Western state of Rajasthan has to offer the
famous Jaipuri quilts, Bagru and Sanganer printed textiles and wooden and wrought iron
furniture from Jodhpur. The coastal state of Gujarat comes with embroidered articles
from Kutch. Narsapur in Andhra Pradesh is famous for its Lace and Lace goods. But this
is only a small part of the total product range. India offers much more.
Though Indian Handicraft industry is considered a cottage industry, but it has evolved as
one of the major revenue generator over the years. There has been consistent growth of
15% over few years and the industry has evolved as one of the major contributor for
export and foreign revenue generation.
COUNTRY WISE EXPORT SHARE DATA
The Indian Handicraft Industry stands a unique place among all other industries. It
represents the rich culture, tradition and heritage of India. Indias rich cultural
diversity and heritage provides a unique and huge resource for developing craft
products.

The Indian Handicraft Industry is showing continuous growth rate of 20% every year
and it is one of the most important segment of decentralized sector in India. Also, it
has shown continuous growth at the rate of 15-20% over the years and contributes
major role for export and foreign earnings. The export earnings from Indian
handicrafts industry for the period 1998-99 amounted to US$ 1.2 billion

YEAR WISE EXPORT DATA OF INDIAN HANDICRAFT

FACTORS CONTRIBUTING IN INCREASING INDIAS EXPORTS
low capital investment, high ratio of value addition

 highly labour intensive

decentralized i.e. spread all over the country in rural and urban areas.
Numerous artisans are engaged in crafts work on part-time basis.
The industry provides employment to over six million artisans (including those in carpet
trade), which include a large number of women and people belonging to the weaker
sections of the society.
high potential for export and foreign exchange earnings for the country.
DEMAND & SUPPLY EXPECTED IN 2015
FACTORS AFFECTING DEMAND AND SUPPLY OF INDIAN HANDICRAFT
(1) Tastes and preferences of the consumer:
Tastes include fashion, habit, customs etc. A good for which consumers tastes and
preferences are higher, claim high demand. Thus there is a shift in the demand curve.
With the change inconsumer's taste and preference in favor of handicrafts, the demand for
handicrafts increased substantially leading to a rightward shift in demand curve.
(2) Income of the people:
The demand for goods depends upon the income of the people. There is direct relation
betweenincome and demand for immodesties. A rise in income gives rise to greater
purchasing power. Thusincrease in income has a positive effect on demand for Indian
Handicrafts in foreign countries.
(3) Population:
Rise of population also gives rise to demand for necessaries of life. The composition and
size of population affect the demand. With high birth rate, the demand for handicrafts is
bound to take a rightward shift in the near future.
Note: The below diagram showcases the effects of Tastes, Income and Population on the
demand curve of Indian Handicrafts in the world.
(4) Effect of Taxes:
The exporters of Indian Handicraft are facing a tough task ahead of them due to the taxes
incurred by the Government. Though, it increases revenue for the government, but at the
same time it is discouraging the suppliers to export Indian handicraft, thereby acting as a
constraint for the suppliers as they have to borne the taxes from their income. This will
lead to a leftward shift in the supply curve. The figure below showcases the effect of
taxes on the supply of Indian Handicrafts.
CROSS ELASTICITY OF HANDICRAFT WITH READYMADE (MACHINE
MADE) GOODS

In economics, the cross elasticity of demand or cross-price elasticity of demand measures

the responsiveness of the demand for a good to a change in the price of another good. It is
measured as the percentage change in demand for the first good that occurs in response to
a percentage change in price of the second good.
Ex = % change in quantity demanded of Handicraft
% change in price of readymade goods

As the cost of skilled labour is increasing, the cost of readymade goods is increasing.
This increased cost is thus decreasing the demand for ready made goods, which is
increasing the demand for Handicraft Goods.

INCOME ELASTICITY OF HANDICRAFT

In economics, income elasticity of demand measures the responsiveness of the demand
for a good to a change in the income of the people demanding the good, ceteris paribus. It
is calculated as the ratio of the percentage change in demand to the percentage change in
income.

Ey = % change in quantity demanded of Handicraft

% change in Income of People

As there is a boom in the market, people are earning more thereby the spending power of
people has increased. This has increased the demand for Indian Handicraft in the
importing countries. This has led to a rightward shift in the demand curve.

MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS

v Supporting the exporters to penetrate new markets.

v Upgradation of technology for production of handicrafts in large volumes as is adopted by
several countries.
v Interests of artisans should also be kept in mind in order to induce further productivity in a
relatively lesser amount of time.
v Proper training schools for improvement of skills to improve the quality and thereby
leading to increase in demand in foreign countries.
v Setting up of warehouses in major importing countries will help to boost further demand.

production Overview of Onion Industry in India

In India, onion is largely grown in the western,
northern and southern parts both in rabi and
kharif seasons. Its supply is available throughout
the year albeit with different volumes. India
produces all three varieties of onion red, yellow
and white. In the northern part of the country,
onion is usually grown in the winter (rabi) season.
While in the southern and western states of
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat
and Maharashtra, it is grown in winter (rabi) as
well as in the rainy (kharif) seasons

a) World Scenario
India is the second largest producer of onion in
the world next to China (Table 2.1). According to
2010 FAO estimates, India contributes nearly
19.25 percent of world onion production.
Though the second largest onion producer, India
significantly lags behin Some of the reasons
behind low productivity in India include poor
irrigation facilities, use of local variety seeds, small
land holding and poor economic background of

farmers, lack of use of improved method of

cultivation, less use of chemical fertilizers and
pesticide, higher post-harvest losses and absence
of good scientific storage facilities
d in the productivity or
yield of the onion.

c) State-level Scenario
. Although onion is cultivated almost all
over the country, the major producing states are
Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh,
Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar
Pradesh, Orissa, and Tamil Nadu
The significant increase in the production
in the past decade was attributed to: increase in
the area under horticultural crop, improved

technology and the government efforts under

National Horticultural Mission (NHM).