Magic Carpets that wove Jaipur Rugs into a global luxury brand
The company transformed handmade craftsmanship into an international business while empowering thousands of rural artisans across India
ByPankti Mehta Kadakia
Last Updated: Jul 21, 2026, 13:49 IST9 min
From the 10 July, 2026 issue
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Jaipur Rugs (est. 1978) became a global luxury brand by empowering 40,000 rural artisans, mostly women, via a decentralized home-delivery model. This purpose-led business proves profitability and social impact can drive global success.
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Nand Kishore Chaudhary (or NKC, as he is popularly known) often heard the same line in the early years of building Jaipur Rugs, the luxury carpet company he founded in 1978: ‘Mr Chaudhary, you are a very good human being, but a bad businessman.’
He was attempting to build a high-touch luxury product business supported by those whom society deemed ‘untouchable’.
“When I went to weddings or parties, people refused to shake my hand,” he recalls. “My neighbours wouldn’t allow the workers to enter the neighbourhood.”
In a global luxury market that prizes heritage, yet often obscures its production realities, Jaipur Rugs has emerged as a rare outlier: A brand that has scaled to hundreds of crores in revenue, built global recall, and remained profitable, all while keeping its production rooted in marginalised communities of rural India. If anything, that practice has become its strongest competitive advantage.
First Published: Jul 21, 2026, 14:04
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