Kolhapur is among 59 districts in India with untapped potential for exports, said Deepali Agarwal, deputy managing director, Export-Import (Exim) Bank, citing a study by the bank.
She was speaking at a programme organised by Shiroli Manufacturers Association in Kolhapur.
Agarwal said that Exim Bank data showed that major exported products from Kolhapur in 2024-25 were textiles, machine gears, auto components, jewelry, refined sugar, rice, and casting. “According to a study undertaken by Exim Bank, less than 2% of the districts in India contribute to around 40% of India’s exports, and hence there remains significant scope of tapping the ‘missing middle export districts. “The study identified ‘missing middle export districts’ whose exports are between US$ 1 billion and US$ 5 billion. In fact, there are around 59 districts in India out of 750 plus districts that fall under the bracket of
‘missing middle export districts’, one of them being Kolhapur,” said Agarwal.
Kolhapur, one of the agriculturally advanced districts in Maharashtra, is today a front runner in manufacturing engineering products, refined sugar, and textiles.
In 2021-22, the exports from Kolhapur amounted to Rs 95.1 billion, and in 2022-23, they increased to Rs 93.7 billion. “The exports from Kolhapur saw a decline after the export ban on sugar; however, Kolhapur’s exports increased from Rs 58.9 billion in 2023-24 to Rs 61.8 billion in 2024-25. The data showed that exports from Kolhapur witnessed diversification.
In 2024-25, the major exported products from Kolhapur were textiles, machine gears, auto components, jewelry, refined sugar, rice, and casting articles. Together, the top 10 products constituted about 42% of Kolhapur’s total merchandise exports, amounting to Rs 25.7 billion during 2024-25,” said Agarwal.
She mentioned that silver jewelry from Hupari in Kolhapur is also in huge demand in India and abroad. The Kolhapuri Saaj is a specialty of Kolhapur and is exported along with other silver ornaments and idols in silver to countries like the US and Australia. The top official of Exim Bank said that the bank has designed a grassroots initiative and development (GRID)
programme to harness the export potential of tier-II cities like Kolhapur. She said that under the programme, the bank supports artisans, craftsmen, weavers, clusters, self-help groups, farmers’ producer organisations, and micro-enterprises.
Exim Bank also provided assistance to SMAK to set up precision 3D scanning solution and casting simulation technology facility at the common facility centre at SMAK, which will tremendously help small-scale manufacturing units.