Handicraft Mela Participation Scheme (Gujarat)

What is the Handicraft Mela Participation Scheme?

The Handicraft Mela Participation Scheme is run by iNDEXT-C, the Industrial Extension Cottage, a directorate under Gujarat's Industries and Mines Department. iNDEXT-C organises handicraft melas; craft fairs and exhibitions, across Gujarat and at national venues, and allots stalls at those melas to registered artisans free of cost or at a subsidised rate.

The scheme addresses a specific problem. A weaver in Patan or a Rogan painter in Kutch can make the product but cannot afford a commercial exhibition stall, and cannot reach buyers in Ahmedabad, Surat or Delhi without one. iNDEXT-C absorbs the cost of the pavilion, provides the stall and its basic infrastructure, and puts the artisan in front of retail customers and bulk buyers.

Scale, from figures released by the directorate: 49 fairs and exhibitions in 2025-26, in which 5,306 artisans participated, including 1,840 women artisans. iNDEXT-C has issued over 74,000 artisan identity cards in Gujarat, more than 50,000 of them to women artisans.

Key objectives

• Give Gujarat's handicraft artisans direct market access without a middleman.
• Keep endangered crafts commercially alive by guaranteeing their practitioners a selling platform.
• Build a verified artisan register through the I-card system, so support reaches makers rather than traders.

Main features

• Stall allotment at melas organised or sponsored by iNDEXT-C.
• Free stalls for awardee artisans and endangered-craft artisans, against a bond letter.
• Basic stall infrastructure such as tables and signage provided at the venue.
• Year-round calendar of melas: Garvi Gurjari Hastkala Mela, Kutir Hastkala Melo, Navratri Hastkala Mela, Khadi Utsav and regional fairs such as Ranotshav at Bhuj and Lokmela at Rajkot.
• Permanent retail outlets, the Haats at Ahmedabad and Bhuj, run alongside the mela programme.

Who is eligible for the Handicraft Mela Participation Scheme?

You can apply if:

• You are a practising handicraft artisan in Gujarat.
• You are registered with iNDEXT-C and hold an artisan identity card.
• Your craft falls within the handicraft categories iNDEXT-C recognises, textiles, embroidery, pottery, woodcraft, metalcraft, decorative articles and similar traditional crafts.
• You are applying as an individual artisan, an artisan group, a handicraft cooperative society registered under the Cooperatives Act, or a recognised craft organisation.
• You can produce and display saleable stock for the duration of the mela.

You cannot apply if:

• You are a trader, shopkeeper or reseller who does not make the craft. The scheme is for makers, and a reseller is not eligible.
• You are not registered with iNDEXT-C or do not hold an artisan I-card. Registration is a precondition, not a formality completed at the venue.
• Your products are machine-made or industrially manufactured rather than handicraft.
• You are not based in Gujarat, for melas restricted to the state's artisans.
• You have been allotted a stall previously and did not occupy it, or breached the bond conditions attached to a free stall.

What documents are required?

How to apply for a handicraft mela stall

1. Register as an artisan with iNDEXT-C at craftofgujarat.gujarat.gov.in if you are not already on the register, and apply for the artisan I-card through the I-card section of the portal.
2. Open the mela calendar on the portal's Mela Details page and pick the fairs you want to attend. iNDEXT-C publishes a mela calendar for the financial year.
3. Download or open the mela application form from the Application Form section of the portal.
4. Fill in the form with your artisan registration number, I-card number, craft category, product range, and the specific mela and dates you are applying for.
5. Attach the documents, I-card, Aadhaar, product photographs and bank details.
6. Submit the application within that mela's window and keep the acknowledgement or reference number.
7. Wait for the stall allotment letter. If you are an awardee or endangered-craft artisan allotted a free stall, submit the bond letter before the mela.
8. Report at the venue on the setup day with the allotment letter and your I-card, and occupy the allotted stall for the full duration of the fair.

How to apply offline

1. Visit the District Industries Centre or the district office handling cottage industries in your district and ask for the current mela calendar.
2. Collect the mela application form and the artisan registration form if you are not yet registered.
3. Submit the filled form with self-attested copies of your I-card, Aadhaar and product photographs, and take an acknowledgement.
4. Follow up with iNDEXT-C, Block 7, 1st Floor, Udyog Bhavan, Sector 11, Gandhinagar 382011, on +91 79 23256005 or +91 79 23256007, or by email at exdire-indext-c@gujarat.gov.in.

What does an artisan actually get at a mela?

An allotted artisan receives stall space in the mela pavilion, free or subsidised depending on category and mela, with the basic infrastructure needed to display and sell — table space and signage at the venue. The artisan sells directly and keeps the sale proceeds; iNDEXT-C does not take a commission on mela sales.

Beyond the stall itself, participation carries three practical benefits that artisans consistently report as the real value: direct contact with retail customers who pay cash at the stall, contact with bulk buyers and exporters who visit craft fairs to source, and contact with other artisans and cluster groups. The marketing and branding support iNDEXT-C provides around the melas, publicity for the fair, footfall generation, a recognised state-backed venue: is what a lone artisan cannot buy.

Exact stall dimensions, any refundable deposit and any travel or freight assistance vary from mela to mela and are stated in the notice for that particular fair. Confirm them in the mela notice rather than assuming last year's terms carry over.

How to check your mela application status

1. Log in to craftofgujarat.gujarat.gov.in with the credentials created at artisan registration.
2. Open the mela application section and check the status against your application reference number.
3. Watch for the stall allotment letter, which is the operative document. An application in "submitted" status is not an allotment.
4. If the mela date is close and no allotment has appeared, telephone iNDEXT-C on +91 79 23256005 or the district industries office.

Common reasons applications are rejected

• No artisan I-card, or an I-card whose craft category does not match the products offered.
• Applying after that mela's window closed. Because deadlines are per fair, this is the most frequent avoidable failure.
• Reseller or trader profile rather than a practising artisan.
• Oversubscription for a popular mela, where the number of applicants exceeds the pavilion's stalls. This is not a rejection on merit.
• Bond letter not furnished by an awardee or endangered-craft artisan allotted a free stall.
• Previous no-show, where an artisan took an allotment and did not occupy the stall.

Key dates to remember

There is no single annual deadline. iNDEXT-C publishes a mela calendar for each financial year, and each fair in it carries its own application window, usually closing several weeks before the fair opens. Artisans who plan around the calendar rather than around individual notices get into more fairs, because the popular melas, the Navratri and festival-season fairs in particular, fill their stalls first.

How to raise a grievance

• iNDEXT-C (Industrial Extension Cottage), Block 7, 1st Floor, Udyog Bhavan, Sector 11, Gandhinagar 382011. Phone +91 79 23256005 or +91 79 23256007, email exdire-indext-c@gujarat.gov.in.
• District Industries Centre for registration and I-card problems at the district level.
• Industries and Mines Department, Government of Gujarat, for escalation.

Artisan registration, the I-card and the mela application are government processes. No agent can charge a fee to secure a stall allotment, and any demand for money in exchange for an allotment should be reported to iNDEXT-C directly.