INDIAN POTTERY INDUSTRY

Presented By
Aditi Rajbansh
2014CEC2718
INDUSTRY BACKGROUND
 An age old handicraft in India
 During the time of the Indus Valley Civilization, this art form
improved with technology
 Pottery in Indian villages presents a wonderful unification of
concept, design and execution
 Can be either hand-made or wheel-made
POTTERY OF DIFFERENT PARTS IN INDIA
 Indian states - Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal
Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh
 Each of these state possesses a distinct characteristic and style
DIFFERENT STYLES OF POTTERY
 Unglazed Pottery
 Glazed Pottery
 Terracotta
 Blue pottery
 POTTERY MAKING PROCESS

Shaping
Formation of clay processes – Hand Pressing
body building & processes
Potter's wheel

Decorating & Finishing

Glazing processes
POTTERY MAKING PROCESS

 Pottery is made by forming a clay body into objects of a required

shape and heating them to high temperatures in a kiln which
removes all the water from the clay
 Prior to some shaping processes, clay must be prepared.
 Kneading helps to ensure an even moisture content throughout
the body. Air trapped within the clay body needs to be removed.
This is called de-airing and can be accomplished by a machine
called a vacuum pug or manually by wedging.
 Shaping processes including jiggering and jolleying & pressing
 A clay body can be decorated before or after firing.
SCOPE FOR GROWTH

 India - considered as one of the first Asian countries to

manufacture as well as export products of pottery
 However, statistics show that the share of India in pottery
products in the market is less than 1 per cent
 The annual production of pottery products in the Khurja of
Uttar Pradesh is stated to be around Rs. 85 crore
 Provides mass employment opportunities along with the
improved living standards; both for the village and city
 Important to identify various requirements of the pottery
manufacturing centers, technological development and
advancement of the centers.
EXISTING CHALLANGES
Competiti
ve
products
like
plastics
Lack of
Seasonal
Raw
demands
Material

Problems

Limited
Customer Paucity of
s or Funds
market

Logistics
related
expenses
 NBMS MODEL FOR POTTERY INDUSTRY

• Availability of clay, availability of water, availability of firewood

S

• Availability of artisans, availability of potter’s wheel for shaping process,

M availability of oven for baking the product

• Availability of smaller markets, weekly bazaar (haats), market for basic pottery
B products, repair and maintenance of wheel and tools, technological upgradation

• Availability of larger and regular markets, storage of goods, market for complete
N range of pottery products, competition from other sectors

• Research & Development, Skill formation & training in traditional arts

C
S LEVEL – Availability of Raw materials

PROBLEMS
 Irregular supply of raw material; adversely affecting
production schedules and delays in delivery
 Poor quality and quantity of the raw materials affect the
quality and size of the output of industrial units
 Artisans utilize the services of middlemen to get raw
materials on credit and loose the margins on finished
products
S LEVEL – Availability of Raw materials

SOLUTIONS
 Setting up raw material depots at suitable places to facilitate
uninterrupted supply of standard raw material to the artisans
in appropriate quantity and quality at reasonable rates
 The state governments should supply raw material at cheaper
rates which will encourage artisans to continue their
production
 The middlemen concept should be avoided as much as
possible; and potters should be allowed to coordinate directly
with the raw material suppliers.
M LEVEL - Availability of potters (kumharas)
PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS AT M-LEVEL

PROBLEMS
 Paucity of working capital causing lower productions.
 Due to the paucity of funds, at times the potters opt for
more remunerative jobs
 Many artisans being aware of improved techniques of
production are unable to apply them, as it will require fresh
investment in the fixed capital which they cannot afford.
 The crude and obsolete tools operated by hand and the
technique of production far below the standards have
considerably affected the productivity and the quality of
output
PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS AT M-LEVEL

SOLUTIONS
 Support needs to be provided to the workers to shift over to
better tools and equipment which will help in eliminating
long strenuous hours of work and increase productivity.
 Credit facilities and financial support for the purchase of raw
materials, and for meeting their business obligations should
be provided
 Nationalized commercial banks and other financial
organizations should come forward to finance the
entrepreneurs providing short, medium and long term loans.
 B LEVEL - Smaller markets, repair &
maintenance, technology upgradation
 Products are mainly local and seldom extended to urban areas
 Lack of diversification of the product
 Logistics cost of transporting the product to market is high
 Old technology and technical process
 SOLUTIONS AT B-LEVEL
 The artisan workers usually produce traditional utilitarian
articles. Apart from these, non-traditional articles should be
produced after examining the consumers’ preference and
marketing orientation
 To increase productivity and efficiency of the production
system, modernization of production technology is one of
the basic prerequisite
 Logistics to the markets needs to be well integrated with the
requirements of the artisans
 N LEVEL - Larger and regular markets,
competition from other sectors
PROBLEMS
 Sale of finished products through middlemen has been a
dominant feature of pottery industry.
 The demand for the products is largely seasonal and limited to
the locality as majority of their products do not conform to the
specifications.
 During slack season the potters are forced to remain idle.
 Competition from the mills as well as inter unit competition is
keen.
 The competition from the substitutes like plastic items which
are cheaper and more durable
 N LEVEL - larger and regular markets,
competition from other sectors
SOLUTIONS
 Presence of co-operative marketing organizations or
government agency in sufficiently large numbers would prevent
the involvement of middlemen.
 State government emporium and cooperative marketing
agencies should procure decorative items for their stocks which
can be produced during the slack season
 Promotion of the pottery products as eco-friendly against plastic
at the B level.
 Try to establish Indian pottery products as premium products
and promote their business on a commercial basis while using
the traditional arts in the urban areas. For eg: Fab India
C LEVEL –R&D, Skill formation & training

 Adequate research and development needed to increase the

output and to find out the higher value alternative items for
many of the products.
 Improve skill of the artisan workers through training and
education of the workers in the related field.
 Managerial training should also be introduced for the
management of the individual household units and
cooperatives.
CONCLUSIONS
 Pottery ware manufacturers and traders are facing a highly
competitive market
 The artisan (kumhara)is the proprietor himself and works on his
own initiative and with his own capital
 The scientific and technical knowledge is lacking due to illiteracy
and poverty
 The market of the potter’s products is mainly local and seldom
extended to urban areas
 Need to look at the issues in minute detail and plan accordingly
for improvement
 Solving the issues at each level (NBMS) that we will be able to
rekindle the growth in the traditional pottery industry