§1What this business is

Plain fabric is bought, designs are block-printed on it, the cloth is set on a frame and embroidered by hand — mostly by women artisans — then washed, starched and ironed. Chikankari from Lucknow is a GI-registered craft done on cotton, georgette, chiffon and silk for kurtas, saris, suits, dupattas and home linen. Buyers are garment shops, boutiques, wholesalers and exporters.

Capacity: 250 metres of embroidered fabric a day on a 10-hour shift; year 1 at 50%.

§2Is it right for you?

Who it is for

Someone in or near Lucknow with links to chikan artisans and garment buyers.

Who it is not for

Someone far from an artisan base who cannot check hand-work quality.

Advantages

  • A famous GI craft with demand in India and abroad
  • Almost no machinery — skill is the asset
  • Gives work to women artisans at home
  • Works on many fabrics and products, from kurtas to cushion covers

Drawbacks

  • Labour is the largest cost after fabric
  • Machine-made imitation chikan undercuts prices
  • Quality depends on finding skilled embroiderers
  • Fashion and design must keep changing

Skills you need

  • Design and block printing
  • Managing home-based artisans
  • Quality checking of hand-work
  • Selling to boutiques and exporters

Why difficulty 2/5: Low technology; managing artisans and buyers is the real work.

§3Market

Who buys

  • Women and men buying ethnic wear
  • Boutiques and garment brands
  • Buyers in Europe, North America, Australia and the Middle East (named in the report)

How it sells

  • Wholesale markets in Lucknow, Delhi and Mumbai
  • Exporters
  • Online and exhibition sales

Good to know

  • The report says India exports about ₹60 crore of chikankari clothes a year.
  • It puts the trade at 2.5 lakh artisans, with nearly 90% of the work done by women.

§4Raw material & machinery

ItemQtyCost
Stores and spares — needles, wooden tables, wooden printing blocks—₹40,000

From: PMEGP sample project report — Chikankari Work Unit (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

  • Fabric (cotton, georgette, chiffon, silk and others)bought from the market; raw material ₹15.00 lakh in year 1
  • Cotton thread and woolfor the embroidery
  • Indigo coloursfor tracing the design with blocks
  • Starchfor finishing after washing

From: PMEGP sample project report — Chikankari Work Unit (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

§5Licences & registration

  1. Udyam
  2. GST
  3. Trade licence
  4. Import Export Code for exports
  5. Use of the GI tag only through an authorised user registration

We can do this registration for you

§6Schemes & subsidies

PMEGP sample project; MUDRA (up to ₹20 L) and CGTMSE fit the ₹8.42 L size.

§7Money

How the investment is worked out: Samadhan report: civil work ₹5.00 L + furniture ₹0.50 L + working capital ₹2.92 L = ₹8.42 L. Stores and spares (needles, wooden tables, wooden blocks) ₹40,000. Finance: term loan ₹4.95 L, WC loan ₹2.63 L, own ₹0.84 L.

Working capital: Working capital ₹2.92 lakh, bank finance ₹2.63 lakh — 15 days of stock and 15 days' credit both ways.

Year not printed on the report — check current machinery prices.

How to prepare a loan file

§8Export potential

Confirm the HS code in the DGFT ITC(HS) lookup before you export

5810.91Embroidery in the piece, in strips or in motifs, of cotton (other than without visible ground)
  • Finished embroidered garments go under their own garment headings (Chapter 62), not 5810.
  • Embroidered garments are handled by AEPC; handicraft made-ups by EPCH.
  • Confirm the 8-digit ITC(HS) line with DGFT or your customs broker.
  • You need an Import Export Code (IEC) from DGFT before the first shipment.

§9Risks — where people fail

  • Competition from machine embroidery
  • Delays from home-based artisans
  • Fabric price rise
  • Unsold stock when fashion changes

§1030 / 60 / 90-day plan

A general plan that applies to any business. A plan for this business will be added after research.

  1. Days 1–30: Visit a working chikankari embroidery unit unit, ask 10 buyers about price and quantity, and get quotations from 3 suppliers.
  2. Days 31–60: Udyam and the licences you need (Udyam, GST), a project report (DPR), and the scheme or loan file.
  3. Days 61–90: Space and machines, trial production, and first deliveries to 10 customers.

§11Who to connect with

Not verified yet

Associations, clusters and training institutes — the directory is being built. Connect

§12Watch

There is no episode on this business yet. Shows are coming soon on the Podcast page.

Want to start Chikankari Embroidery Unit?

DPR, loan file or registration — ask us on WhatsApp.

Get a DPR / loan file made

Sources

  1. PMEGP sample project report — Chikankari Work Unit (prepared by Udyami/Samadhan)

Data review: 6 October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Report it. For information only — not legal or financial advice.