Top 10 Carpet Exporters in India (2026): Who Ships What, and How to Check Them

In Indian trade practice, an exporter is whoever holds the Import Export Code on the shipping documents. That may be the house that wove your rugs, or a merchant exporter who bought them from a weaving unit and shipped them under its own code. Both are legitimate. The distinction matters because the entity named on the invoice and the bill of lading is the entity you have a contract with, and the entity your claim lands on if the container is short, damaged or wrongly sized.

A manufacturer exporter owns or directly controls weaving and ships in its own name. A merchant exporter buys finished goods and exports them. A buying agent does not export at all in the usual arrangement: it inspects and consolidates on your behalf while the manufacturer or merchant remains the shipper, and it charges you a disclosed commission. Raheem & Son operates as a manufacturer exporter and, separately and openly, as a buying agent, and we say which hat we are wearing on any given order.

Ask any supplier one question early: whose Import Export Code will appear on my documents. If the answer is somebody else's, you are buying through an intermediary, which may still be the right decision, but you should price and paper it as such.

India shipped roughly 1.54 billion US dollars of carpets in the 2025 financial year and accounts for around 40 per cent of world handmade carpet exports, according to the India Brand Equity Foundation. More than half goes to the United States. Germany, the United Kingdom and the Gulf follow.

Four clusters do most of it. The Bhadohi and Mirzapur belt in Uttar Pradesh is the largest hand-knotted region in South Asia and, by several published estimates, produces the majority of India's handmade carpet output. Jaipur and Rajasthan hold large integrated groups and artisan networks. Panipat in Haryana dominates recycled, flatweave and shag production. Srinagar in Kashmir remains the centre for fine silk knotting.

Your rug's cluster shows up in your costs long before it shows up in your customer's living room. A Panipat recycled flatweave and a Bhadohi hand-knotted wool rug have different lead times, different container fill, different duty classifications and different failure modes. Sourcing both from one exporter is possible, but ask who actually weaves each one.

Ordered by founding year, as in our main manufacturers guide, for the same reason: it is the one ordering nobody can lobby to change. Read the ship-type column rather than the position.

Carpets sit in Chapter 57 of the Harmonised System, and the subheading follows construction rather than material or price. 5701 covers knotted carpets. 5702 covers woven carpets that are neither tufted nor flocked, which is where most flatweaves and dhurries fall. 5703 covers tufted carpets. 5704 covers felt. 5705 is the catch-all for other carpets and floor coverings.

Two practical consequences. First, a supplier who cannot tell you the correct subheading for what they are selling has not exported much of it. Second, misclassification is your problem at your border, not theirs: duty rates, preferential treatment and any anti-dumping exposure all follow the code. Confirm the full tariff line with your own broker for your own country before the first shipment, and keep the classification consistent across orders.

Our guide to export documentation, ports and Incoterms sets out the full document set that should accompany a container, and the export and logistics page covers how we handle it.

Ask for the Import Export Code, the GST registration number and, where claimed, the Carpet Export Promotion Council registration. All three are matters of record in India and all three appear on documents the exporter already issues, so a genuine house hands them over without friction. Check the company name attached to each one matches the entity you are contracting with, not an affiliate with a similar name.

Then ask for two things that are harder to fake than a certificate: a recent bill of lading with the commercially sensitive parts redacted, and two references in your own market. A house that ships regularly to the United States or Germany can produce both in an afternoon.

Finally, test the paperwork before you test the product. Ask what documents they will issue at shipment and in what order. A complete answer names the commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, certificate of origin, and any market-specific declarations. A vague answer is a forecast of how your first customs clearance will go.

We are a manufacturer exporter registered with the Carpet Export Promotion Council, exporting from Bhadohi since 1927 and now in the fourth generation of the family. We ship hand-knotted, handloom, hand-woven, hand-tufted and flatweave rugs, jute and natural fibre, leather, and the poufs and pillows that usually accompany a floor programme.

On certification, the position is the one we state everywhere: CEPC registration is what we hold. GoodWeave-licensed production, ISO documentation, Oeko-Tex certified yarn and third-party social audits are arranged against qualifying orders, and we confirm in writing what exists and what must be obtained before you commit. If you need a standing certificate in hand on day one, say so at enquiry and we will tell you plainly whether we are the right supplier for that order.

If you would rather we source across the belt on your behalf than weave it ourselves, that is the sourcing desk, and it is charged and disclosed as agency work.