Team Production Award

What is the Team Production Award?

Team Production Award is a handicrafts award of the Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Development Corporation Limited (THDC), which trades as Poompuhar, under the Handlooms, Handicrafts, Textiles and Khadi Department, Government of Tamil Nadu. The award honours a group of artisans who together produce a handicraft item.

According to Poompuhar's published note on artisan awards, handicraft items are usually made by a team of artisans and "it is often difficult to single out an individual artisan for an award". The Team Production Award was therefore introduced to recognise teams, including self-help groups, that come together to make a craft object.

The award is given to 3 groups every year at a total cost of Rs 3.75 lakh, and each award consists of:

• A cash prize of Rs 40,000
• A 4 gram gold medal
• A thamirapattiram (copper plate citation)
• A certificate

Poompuhar itself is the state's handicrafts marketing and development corporation. Besides awards, it runs common facility centres, integrated design and training workshops with a monthly stipend of Rs 7,500 for trainees, a Design Research and Development Centre using 3D design and printing, and the TN Artisan registration platform.

Who is eligible for the Team Production Award?

A team can apply if:

• Its members are handicraft artisans working in Tamil Nadu.
• The members worked jointly on the item being submitted. The award is for team production, and the application form provides for the details of each member in turn.
• Each member can quote a Poompuhar Identity Card number. The award application form asks for it against every artisan listed.
• The team submits the affidavit in the prescribed form for the year. Poompuhar issued a revised affidavit circular for the 2026-27 cycle.

You are not eligible if:

• You are an individual artisan applying alone. The Team Production Award is by definition a group award; individuals should apply for the Poompuhar State Award, the District Craft Award, the Gen Next competition for artisans below 30, or the Living Craft Treasure Award for those above 65.
• You are a handloom weaver or a khadi producer rather than a handicrafts artisan. Those trades have their own schemes under the same department, but Poompuhar's craft awards cover handicrafts.
• You are an exporter seeking recognition for exports. That is the separate Handicrafts Export Award, given to 2 persons a year with a cash prize of Rs 40,000.
• You submit after the last date notified in the year's circular.

What are the other Poompuhar awards?

Reading the table matters, because artisans regularly send the wrong form. The Team Production Award and the Utility Based Handicrafts Award carry the same cash amount but reward completely different things: one a joint production, the other a useful, non-decorative product.

How to apply for the Team Production Award

1. Open the Poompuhar awards page at tnhdc.poompuhar.com/award and look under Awards Notifications for the Team Production Award application for the current year.
2. Download the application PDF for the year. The 2026-27 form is published on that page alongside the State Award, Utility Based Award, Handicrafts Export Award, District Craft Award and Gen Next forms.
3. Also download the award circular and the revised affidavit format for the year, since Poompuhar issues corrigenda and date extensions through the same page.
4. Fill in the details of every team member, name, Poompuhar Identity Card number, address, craft, experience and contact details. The form has separate blocks for each artisan in the team.
5. Attach photographs of the handicraft item the team produced, the affidavit, Aadhaar copies for each member and bank account details for the prize.
6. Submit the completed application to the Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Development Corporation at the address named in the year's circular, before the last date.
7. Call 044-28521271 or write to info@poompuhar.com to confirm that the application has been received.

How to get a Poompuhar artisan identity card

The identity card number is asked for on the award form, so artisans without one should get it first.

1. Use the artisan card application link on tnhdc.poompuhar.com, shown on the site in Tamil as kaivinaigngar attai vinnappam.
2. Register on tnartisan.tn.gov.in, the state's artisan registration platform.
3. Provide identity proof, address proof, craft details and photographs of your work.
4. Follow up with the Poompuhar office once the card is generated, and quote the number on every award application afterwards.

Key dates for the award

• 2025-26 cycle; submission of the Living Craft Treasure Award, Team Production Award, Utility Based Handicraft Award, Handicraft Export Award, Poompuhar District Craft Award and Gen Next competition was extended to 10 September 2025.
• 2026-27 cycle — the Team Production Award application form for 2026-27 is published on the awards page; the Living Craft Treasure Award for the same year was extended to 10 August 2026 and the State Award to 24 July 2026, which shows how the corporation handles dates by circular.

The practical rule is that Poompuhar opens all its award applications together, usually in the first half of the financial year, and extends dates by notice. Any artisan planning to apply should check the awards page monthly rather than wait for a general announcement.

Why applications fail

• Missing Poompuhar Identity Card numbers for one or more team members.
• An old affidavit format, after the corporation has issued a revised one for the year.
• Poor photographs of the item, so the selection committee cannot judge workmanship.
• Applying as an individual on a team form, or on the wrong award form altogether.
• Late submission, after the date fixed in the circular and any extension.
• Incomplete bank details, which delays release of the Rs 40,000 prize even after selection.

What else Poompuhar does for artisan teams

An award is a one-time recognition, and a team of artisans usually needs more than that. The same corporation runs a set of continuing supports that a group applying for the Team Production Award should know about:

• Integrated Design and Technology Development Programme training of five months and Design and Technology Development Workshop training of two months, in the production of craft items. Trainees are paid a stipend of Rs 7,500 per month by the corporation during the training period.
• Common Facility Centres, including four established under the Tamil Nadu Government sponsored scheme for Revival of Languishing Crafts for palm leaf, kora grass mat, clay and terracotta crafts, at a cost of Rs 188.00 lakh. Shared equipment matters most to exactly the kind of group the Team Production Award honours.
• Design Research and Development Centre, using 3D designing and printing technology for quicker production of handicraft products.
• Marketing through Poompuhar showrooms and the online store, which is often the practical reason a self-help group forms in the first place.
• Geographical Indication crafts support, since several Tamil Nadu crafts carry GI protection and teams working in them can build on that identity.

A group that trains together, uses a common facility centre and then submits a jointly produced item makes a far stronger award application than a group assembled only to fill in the form.

Help and grievance route

• Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Development Corporation (Poompuhar) to 044-28521271, and the corporation also publishes 044-28521325, 044-28521798 and 044-28525094 on its award correspondence.
• Email: info@poompuhar.com.
• Awards page, tnhdc.poompuhar.com/award for forms, circulars, corrigenda and extension notices.
• TN Artisan platform; tnartisan.tn.gov.in for artisan registration issues.

There is no application fee for the award, and no intermediary can secure a selection. Poompuhar decides the award through its own selection process on the strength of the craft item submitted by the team.

How to check your Team Production Award application status

The Team Production Award has no online tracking portal or application number system, since the award is submitted offline as a paper application to the Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Development Corporation. A team that has submitted its form should follow up this way:

1. Call the corporation directly at 044-28521271 and quote the team's name, the craft item submitted and the year of application. Poompuhar also lists 044-28521325, 044-28521798 and 044-28525094 as alternate numbers on its award correspondence.
2. Write to info@poompuhar.com with the same details if a phone call does not get a clear answer, and keep a copy of the submission acknowledgment (if one was issued) for reference.
3. Watch the awards page at tnhdc.poompuhar.com/award for the selection announcement. Poompuhar does not notify every applicant individually; results for the year's awards, including the Team Production Award, are usually put out through a press notification or listed on the corporation's own communication once the selection committee finalises names.
4. Confirm bank details are correct once a team is selected, since a wrong or incomplete account number is the most common reason a confirmed award's Rs 40,000 cash prize gets delayed after selection, separate from the question of whether the application itself was received.
5. If a team submitted before an extended deadline (as happened for the 2025-26 cycle, extended to 10 September 2025) and hears nothing by the time the next year's circular comes out, it should call the office again rather than assume the application was carried forward, since Poompuhar treats each year's award cycle as a fresh round.

There is no SMS or email auto-update system for this award; a phone call or email to the corporation is the only way to confirm an application was received and is under consideration.