NE RURAL DEVELOPMENT BUREAU
HYDERABAD, OCT 7
What if every purchase could do more than fill a shopping bag? What if it could sustain an artisan, strengthen a rural family and keep a centuries-old craft alive? That is the consumer message emerging from the Grameen Bharat Mahotsav – Telangana 2026, where rural India’s traditional skills and contemporary enterprise are being brought face-to-face with urban consumers.
- Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla calls handicrafts and handlooms engines of rural employment, not merely repositories of tradition
- NABARD’s eight-day Grameen Bharat Mahotsav brings artisans, weavers, SHGs and rural entrepreneurs from across India under one roof
- 58 stalls showcase handlooms, handicrafts, natural products and rural innovations from different parts of the country
- 36 GI products from more than 20 States take centre stage at special Geographical Indication Pavilion
- Live Lac bangle and pottery demonstrations invite consumers to experience India’s living craft traditions
- ONDC, digital branding, market linkages and GI initiatives seek to take rural products from local shelves to wider markets
The 13th edition of the Mahotsav, organised by NABARD, Telangana Regional Office, was inaugurated by Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla in Hyderabad on Wednesday. The eight-day event, being held from October 7 to 14 at Kamma Sangham Hall, Ameerpet, brings artisans, weavers, Self-Help Groups (SHGs), producer organisations and rural entrepreneurs from across India onto a common marketplace.
The Mahotsav has evolved from ‘Deccan Haat’, launched in Telangana in 2014, and was rechristened ‘Grameen Bharat Mahotsav’ in 2025. From an exhibition-cum-sale, it has grown into a broader platform connecting rural producers with consumers, markets, technology and business opportunities.
This year, 58 stalls showcase handlooms, handicrafts, natural products and rural innovations from different parts of India, while live demonstrations of Lac bangle-making and pottery-making offer visitors a closer look at the skill, patience and craftsmanship behind handmade products.
Governor: Handicrafts are livelihoods, not just heritage
In a message with a direct bearing on consumers, Shukla underlined that India’s handicrafts and handlooms sector should not be viewed merely through the prism of tradition.
He emphasised that the sector is an important source of rural employment and livelihoods, with more than 64 lakh artisans and weavers engaged across India and women constituting a significant share of the workforce.
The Governor also pointed to the sector’s economic potential, including the contribution of handlooms to India’s cloth production and the growing export footprint of Indian handicrafts.
His message comes at a time when rural producers face rising raw-material costs, competition from machine-made products, inadequate market access, branding challenges and the need to embrace digital platforms.
Shukla highlighted Telangana’s distinctive craft and textile heritage, including Pochampally Ikat, Gadwal, Narayanpet and Gollabhama sarees, Warangal durries, Nirmal crafts, Pembarthi metal craft and Cheriyal paintings, and stressed the need to strengthen the market ecosystem around such products.
From artisan to consumer: NABARD builds the missing bridge
The Mahotsav seeks to address one of rural enterprise’s most persistent challenges—getting authentic products from the hands of producers to the consumers who value them.
NABARD’s interventions include strengthening artisan institutions, promoting Geographical Indication (GI) products, developing market linkages and supporting rural enterprise producer organisations (REPOs), craft clusters and women-led livelihood initiatives.
The Governor appreciated NABARD’s support to REPOs such as Amarchinta Silk Handloom Weavers REPO, Chitrika Handloom REPO, Mollamamba Pottery REPO and Domakonda Pottery REPO, besides initiatives involving Mahadevpur Tussar Silk, Rangashaipet Brass, Cheriyal Craft and Pochampally Ikat.
He also appreciated efforts towards GI registration of distinctive Telangana products, noting that such initiatives can enhance market value, strengthen rural livelihoods and preserve the State’s cultural and agricultural heritage.
RBI call: Don’t just admire rural products—buy them
Chinmoy Kumar, Regional Director, Reserve Bank of India, Telangana, appreciated NABARD’s effort to bring rural artisans and weavers from across the country onto a common platform and provide them with marketing opportunities to expand their businesses while preserving traditional art forms.
He urged people to visit the exhibition, buy the unique products and support traditional arts that are slowly losing inheritance.
He also emphasised the importance of the MSME sector in the overall growth of the Indian economy through local income generation and foreign exchange earnings.
The appeal gives the Mahotsav a significance beyond cultural celebration: consumer demand itself can become an instrument of rural economic development.
36 GI products put India’s geographical identity on display
A special GI Pavilion featuring 36 unique Geographical Indication products from more than 20 States is among the major attractions.
Through product displays and storyboards, visitors can explore the history, uniqueness and cultural significance of GI products, making the pavilion both a marketplace and a journey through India’s diverse regional traditions.
Workshops and technical sessions will focus on onboarding products onto the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), while sessions will also cover GI and post-GI initiatives, digital branding and marketing, and design diversification.
The objective is to help rural products move beyond geographical limitations and compete more effectively in modern marketplaces.
From rural haats to digital markets
NABARD Telangana has been implementing a broad range of interventions to strengthen the rural enterprise ecosystem.
These include support for four REPOs with grant assistance of ₹2.63 crore, promotion of rural enterprise and craft clusters, livelihood and skill-development programmes for SHG members and rural youth, and support for Rural Marts, Mobile Rural Marts, Rural Haats and Gram Dukans.
Technology and innovation initiatives through RuTAGe Smart Village Centres and Rural Business Incubation Centres are also being supported.
NABARD has additionally backed GI initiatives, women-led enterprises and market-linkage interventions aimed at improving incomes and livelihood opportunities.
The bigger idea: rural prosperity beyond agriculture
The Mahotsav reflects NABARD’s broader belief that sustainable rural prosperity must extend beyond agriculture to encompass rural enterprises, traditional crafts, handlooms, food processing, women-led enterprises and local innovations.
By putting producers and consumers in the same space, the event seeks to create direct market opportunities while giving rural talent greater visibility.
For visitors, the proposition is equally direct: explore, interact, learn and buy.
NABARD has invited people of Hyderabad to visit the Mahotsav with their families and friends, interact directly with artisans, witness live demonstrations, participate in knowledge sessions and support rural producers by purchasing authentic handmade products.
Every purchase, the organisers emphasised, supports an artisan and a rural family while helping preserve India’s rich cultural heritage.
The message could well be the most powerful takeaway from the Mahotsav: when consumers choose handmade, authentic and locally rooted products, they are not merely buying an object—they are helping sustain the person, skill and community behind it.
Grameen Bharat Mahotsav – Telangana 2026 will continue in Hyderabad from October 7 to 14, offering visitors an opportunity to discover and purchase handlooms, handicrafts, natural products and rural innovations from across India under one roof.
Visitors can choose from a wide range of products and purchase them on the spot, creating a direct connection between consumers and the artisans who make them.
The inaugural ceremony concluded with a vote of thanks by P Ramalakshmi, General Manager, NABARD.