About
To advocate the critical importance of artisans and their crafts to the nation's social, economic, cultural and environmental wellbeing.
The Crafts Council of India (CCI) is the country's oldest national crafts organisation, founded in 1964 by Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay and headquartered in Chennai. A registered non-profit, it works through a federation of state crafts councils to promote and protect Indian handicrafts - organising exhibitions and bazaars, supporting artisan livelihoods and skill development, advocating craft-friendly policy, and maintaining India's link to the global World Crafts Council.
Born of Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay's lifelong conviction that India's crafts were central to its identity and economy, the Crafts Council of India built a national movement of volunteers around the artisan. Its founding ethos - that those who serve the Council are facilitators, not patrons, and that recognition belongs to the craftsperson - has guided six decades of work.
Through a federated network of state crafts councils, CCI runs exhibitions and craft bazaars, supports skill training, marketing and design innovation, advocates for artisans in policy, confers awards such as the Kamala Award, and connects Indian crafts to the World Crafts Council that Kamaladevi helped found.
Founding & Leadership
The Crafts Council of India was founded in 1964 by Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay - freedom fighter, social reformer and the towering figure of India's post-independence crafts revival, who also built the Central Cottage Industries Emporium and the All India Handicrafts Board. Inspired by Gandhi and Tagore's belief in hand production as a force for emancipation, she gathered volunteers to build lasting public awareness of artisans' skills and to address their needs in a modernising India.
A registered non-profit society headquartered in Chennai, working through a federation of affiliated state crafts councils, and linked to the World Crafts Council.
Leadership & Trustees
Initiatives & Portfolio
A national network of affiliated state crafts councils delivering craft support regionally.
Exhibitions and bazaars giving artisans direct platforms to display and sell their work.
Skill training, design innovation and market linkage for craftspeople.
The Kamala Award and policy advocacy for artisans and crafts.
Impact & Metrics
Partnerships & Network
Partner institutions
Government partners
Funders & patrons
Credentials & Compliance
CSR-eligible · Schedule VII(v) - art & culture
A CSR partner under Schedule VII(v) for crafts promotion and artisan livelihoods, with a federated national delivery network.
Recognition
India's oldest national crafts body; founded by Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, the architect of India's crafts revival.
[Atlas Assessment] The Crafts Council of India is the institutional embodiment of Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay's crafts revival - the movement that treated India's handicrafts as central to national identity and economy after independence. As the oldest national crafts body and India's link to the World Crafts Council, it has shaped six decades of craft advocacy, recognition and support through its federated network.
CCI scores highest on longevity - it is the senior institution of the Indian crafts sector - and solidly on reach through its state-council federation. Relative to a design-led operator like Dastkar it is more an advocacy-and-federation body than a hands-on market-maker, and its innovation score reflects that. Its distinctive value is legacy, legitimacy and national network: a credible umbrella partner for crafts-sector work.