Zari (golden thread) embroidery work used for the embellishment of fabrics has found

admirers in overseas markets, as its export has risen significantly of late. Bareilly, one

of the main centres of zari work, is attracting huge export opportunities, hovering

around two billion Indian rupees annually. The presence of the country's famed work

can be felt in all the continents. The list of countries keen to purchase zari work

includes the USA, the UK, Japan and Saudi Arabia. "The turnover of zari production

is around 175 crore rupees. The main market for it is in UAE, Europe and the US.

Exporters from there do get their manufacturing done from here and export it to other

countries too. We do indirect export like this too," said Gopal Agarwal, an exporter.

An index of the growing demand of zari is the volume of exports, which was well

below the billion-rupee mark during the span of 1995-96. But the succeeding five

years saw a phenomenal rise in exports as volume grew to the tune of about 1.5 billion

Indian rupees.The growth of the business can also be attributed to the widespread

presence of the Indian diaspora that has been on the upsurge globally. Since the zari

has made strong inroads into Bollywood, it's promotional work, though, indirectly is

being done by films, which are finding global audience. Moreover, in a developing

economy like India, the zari has also become a good source of employment of a huge

population in the area. "We get raw material mainly from Punjab and Delhi. We are

half paid at the time of delivery of finished goods and the remaining we get with the

next lot," said Naeem, a zari worker.

However, like many other traditional industries in the country, the mainstay of the

trade is worker who, ironically, is bereft of the fruits of the labour. The traders

involved in the trade usually earn approximately 117 to 140 US dollars in export of a

zari-embroidered piece of cloth but the workers get barely two dollars. However, with

the rapid growth of zari exports, one can hope that the profits would percolate to the

workers and the artisans involved in the trade.