TULIP Brand Pushed as 130 Artisans Join 45th IITF 2026

The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has taken a pavilion at the 45th India International Trade Fair (IITF) 2026 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, and is using it to put the craft of artisans from the country's most disadvantaged groups in front of buyers. The stall stands in Hall No. 5 on the ground floor of the ITPO complex. The fair itself was inaugurated on 13 November.

Who is exhibiting

More than 130 artisans drawn from 19 states are at the pavilion this year. They have come through the Ministry's three Apex Corporations:

• NSFDC, the National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation
• NBCFDC, which works for Backward Classes and is formally the National Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation
• NSKFDC, set up for safai karamcharis as the National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation

The craftspeople belong to Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes, Safai Mitras and De-Notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes, and the Ministry describes the effort as an application of the principle of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas'. On display are handicrafts, handloom cloth, handmade articles and other traditional products, and the artisans sell directly to visitors, which turns footfall into income.

The TULIP brand

The headline feature of the pavilion is the promotion of TULIP, short for the Traditional Artisans' Upliftment Livelihood Programme. The initiative was launched recently by the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Dr Virendra Kumar, at the Shilp Samagam Mela held at Dilli Haat in the national capital. TULIP is meant to give traditional artisans a stronger platform on which to display and market what they make, and to lift the visibility and market reach of artisan-made goods at both the national and the international level.

What the Ministry wants from it

Officials say the aim is sustainable livelihoods: tying old craft skills to present-day market demand, strengthening market linkages, encouraging artisans to behave as entrepreneurs and moving beneficiaries towards economic self-reliance, while the artistic and cultural traditions behind the products are preserved. Taking part in large national exhibitions, the Ministry argues, pulls producers from marginalised communities out of the margins of the economy and into the mainstream marketplace, where they meet customers they would otherwise never reach.