With a vision to work in handloom and handicraft clusters of India, Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) launched the Digital Cluster Development Programme in the year 2009. Since then, it has reached nine handloom and handicraft clusters of India.
In 2017, DEF partnered with Larsen & Tourbo Public Charitable Trust (LTPCT) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in India to digitally empower the artisans of Talasari block under the project name of Uddyam – Warli. Through this initiative, DEF has introduced several digital interventions in various stages of weaving, designing and marketing of Warli products.
The goal of the project is ensure that artisans can effectively access greater market share and profit through enhanced and sustainable business opportunities.

Inhabitants of the Thane district of Maharashtra, the Warli tribe is known for the sacred pictographs that they paint on the walls of their huts, especially as part of their wedding rituals. A rich paste is smeared on the walls as base, and motifs inspired from their day-to-day life, nature, legends, local incidents and folk tales painted on it with brush made of twigs. The central theme of these paintings is Palaghata, the goddess of trees and plants that symbolises creative energy. The visual energy of the Warli painting is attained through line drawings of multitudes of tiny human forms engaged in hunting, dancing, cultivating land. In recent years, the canvas of these paintings has transferred to papers and cloth layered with cow dung, which produce the characteristic natural and dull background for the motifs painted in white. Warli offering various fabrics and crafts products made by using this art.