Category: Schemes
The Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) has signed an agreement with TRIFED to give tribal artisans registered under the PM Vishwakarma scheme a direct route to sell their products. The memorandum of understanding was signed on 5 November 2026.
Under the agreement, eligible tribal artisans will be able to sell through the Tribes India retail network and its online marketplace, tribesindia.com. Their products will be displayed under a proposed “Tribes India–PM Vishwakarma Collection”.
TRIFED, the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India, works under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. It will help with onboarding, capacity building, packaging and cataloguing for artisans referred by the MSME Ministry.
Which artisans benefit
The agreement covers only tribal artisans who are registered and eligible under PM Vishwakarma. It does not cover all artisans under the scheme, and it starts nothing new for ordinary consumers.
The trades covered include carpenter, metalsmith, sculptor, goldsmith, potter, shoe smith, basket, mat and broom maker, coir weaver, doll and toy maker, and garland maker.
The MoU was signed in the presence of Dr Rajneesh, Additional Secretary and Development Commissioner in the Ministry of MSME, and M. Raja Murugan, Managing Director of TRIFED, along with senior officials from both sides.
About PM Vishwakarma
PM Vishwakarma was launched on 17 September 2023 to improve the quality and reach of products and services made by traditional artisans and craftspeople, whose skills pass from one generation to the next through the traditional guru-shishya model of training within families.
It is a Central Sector Scheme, fully funded by the Union Government, with an outlay of 13,000 crore rupees for five years, from 2023-24 to 2027-28. It is jointly implemented by the Ministry of MSME, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and the Department of Financial Services.
The scheme completed three years in September 2026. Its target of registering 30 lakh artisans was already reached, with total registrations at 30,03,925 as on 30 September 2026, according to a government press release of 20 October 2026. As per the official portal, 24,43,496 registered artisans have completed basic training.
The agreement is an example of inter-ministerial convergence: the MSME Ministry supplies the artisan base and TRIFED supplies the marketplace, so neither side has to build a parallel system. For artisans, the problem is often not skill but buyers and visibility — this MoU is aimed squarely at that gap.
Sources: Press Information Bureau, 5 November 2026, via India Education Diary, Kasba and Learn Through Practice; Drishti IAS; Sarkari Yojana, 6 November 2026.
