India's state-owned craft emporiums occupy a paradoxical position: they preside
over a global surge in demand for authentic, handmade, and sustainable goods
while losing ground to the very market they were built to serve. This chapter
examines Project Renaissance, a 180-day institutional turnaround designed for the
Central Cottage Industries Corporation (CCIC), one of India's oldest and most
symbolically significant heritage retail institutions. Drawing on frameworks of
organisational ambidexterity, retail experience design, and social enterprise
governance, the chapter diagnoses four structural fault lines — a governanceoperational
gap, asset mismanagement, a narrative vacuum, and technological
invisibility — that collectively explain the institution's decline. It then traces the
architecture of a comprehensive recovery strategy spanning Shadow Leadership,
the Vendor Trust Formula, phygital retail transformation, the Cottage Academy,
asset-light global expansion, and algorithmic merchandising. Central to the
argument is the contention that commercial viability and artisan welfare are not
competing objectives but structurally intertwined outcomes: institutions that invest
in the story, provenance, and dignity of craft simultaneously build the brand equity
required for financial self-sufficiency. The chapter contributes to scholarship on
heritage brand management, social enterprise turnarounds, and the governance of
state-owned cultural institutions operating under market conditions
Chapters in this book
- 1. Project Renaissance 2026: A Surgical Turnaround Strategy for State-Owned Heritage Retail
- 2. Behavioural Intervention Training for Agra Police – An Action Research Study
- 3. Make in India in Defence Manufacturing: Financial Impact - A Comprehensive Review
- 4. Factors Affecting the Safety Management System During Airport Masterplan Development: A Case Study on Varanasi Airport
- 5. Financial and Institutional Framework for Land Monetisation by Indian Railways Under National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP 2.0)
- 6. The Unfinished Revolution: Panchayati Raj, Rural Governance, and the Road to 2047
- 7. India in Unpol Missions: An Analysis of Leadership Representation, Motivation, and Institutional Preparedness (with Special Reference to Unmiss)
- 8. Semiconductor Manufacturing in India: Assessing Its Impact on Gross Domestic Product and Pathways to Industrial Transformation
- 9. AI-Driven Admission Systems and their Impact on Admission intake and Institutional Diversity: A Review
- 10. Impact of Influencer Marketing on Consumer Financial Product Adoption in India
- 11. Market Entry Strategy and Consumer Demand Analysis for a Startup Venture in the Premium Decorative Lighting Industry in NCR
Abstract
Keywords
heritage retail institutional turnaround craft economy organisational ambidexterity social enterprise artisan welfare
Chapter information
| Chapter title | Project Renaissance 2026: A Surgical Turnaround Strategy for State-Owned Heritage Retail |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Akhilesh Kumar, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Textiles | Dr Nimmi Agarwal, Associate Professor Sharda University |
| Book title | Confluence of Perspectives: Essays in Leadership, Management and Society Vol.1 |
| Editor(s) | Abhinanda Bhattacharya | Dr. Ruchi Jain Garg |
| Book Doi | https://doi.org/10.67103/IRG.COP1.2026.9788168516410 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.67103/IRG.COP1.2026.9788168516410.1 |
| Publication date | July 17, 2026 |
| Access | Restricted access |
How to cite
Akhilesh Kumar, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Textiles | Dr Nimmi Agarwal, Associate Professor Sharda University. 2026. Project Renaissance 2026: A Surgical Turnaround Strategy for State-Owned Heritage Retail. In: Abhinanda Bhattacharya | Dr. Ruchi Jain Garg (eds). Confluence of Perspectives: Essays in Leadership, Management and Society Vol.1. Book Doi https://doi.org/10.67103/IRG.COP1.2026.9788168516410. https://doi.org/10.67103/IRG.COP1.2026.9788168516410.1