The 48TH edition of IHGF Delhi Fair Autumn 2019 concluded recently at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida contributing significantly both to the exports of handicrafts as well as the promotion of crafts clusters across India. This edition of the IHGF-Delhi Fair tagline was Reduce, Reuse and Recycle –An initiative to Breathe life into junk. Rakesh Kumar, Director General-EPCH said that the various installations were created by using Waste materials such as metal from Moradabad, wood from Jodhpur, glass from Firozabad, handloom from Panipat and Jaipur and ceramics from Khurja. Secondary materials being automobile and plastic scraps from Mayapuri and Bahadurganj and non-hazardous e-waste from Delhi were also used. Besides above, the Council banned plastic bottled water and offered the metal water bottles to the visitors and exhibitors.
Buyers from various countries appreciated the efforts of EPCH for taking initiative in the direction of sustainability and also opined that IHGF-Delhi fair is growing year after year and keeps on not only bringing new products on display but also taking new initiatives.
India Expo Centre & Mart remained action packed for five days with over 3200 Indian handicrafts exporters from all across the country displaying selections of over 2000 + products and more than 300 trend specific design developments, 14 display segments of home, lifestyle, fashion, furniture and textiles spread out in an area of 1,97,000 sq. mtr., informed Ravi K Passi, Chairman – EPCH.
The other highlights of five days extravaganza were knowledge seminars, fashion shows, theme pavilions from North East, Narsapur and Mana Village at Indo-China border for the first time and distribution of Ajay Shankar and PN Suri Memorial awards to best design and display stands of the exhibitors. Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India have given special focus on handicrafts of Jammu & Kashmir and a theme on J&K was also set up.
Overseas buyers and their representative’s participation from 110 countries increased from 6,596 last year to 7312 this year supported by over 2000 domestic volume buyers. The fair generated business enquiries to the tune of `3,750 cr this year representing an increase over last year.
Ravi K Passi, Chairman – EPCH said that the buyers visited maximum from US (973), Germany (315), UK (337 ), Australia (345), France ( 297), Japan (208 ) and China ( 174), Russia [ 31]. This year new buyers also visited from Libya, Madagascar and Moldova.
Various dignitaries such as Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Hon’ble Union Minister of Jal Shakti, Anurag Thakur, Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs, Chaudhary Udaybhan Singh, Minister of State for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises, Khadi & Grammoudyog and Export Promotion, Govt. of UP, Ajay Tamta, former Minister of State for Textiles, Ravi Capoor, Secretary [Textiles], Ministry of Textiles, Vijoy Kumar Singh, IAS, Addl. Secretary & Financial Advisor, Ministry of Textiles, Shantmanu, IAS Development Commissioner [Handicrafts], Suresh Jain, Chancellor, Tirthankar Mahaveer University, Moradabad and various other government officials visited the show.
The visitors profile to the show included overseas buyers from across the globe, wholesalers, distributors, chain stores, departmental stores, retailers, mail order companies, brand owners, buying houses and designers and trend forecasters. The exhibitors who had opted for Retail sale during the show said that the initiatives, taken by EPCH for inviting e-commerce and online companies to source from the IHGF-Delhi Fair are showing good results. One of the exhibitors Naved Ur Rehman from Zed Sons Company, Moradabad said that buyers of these categories from America, Europe and other countries are placing orders directly from India to sell through their e-portals and online platforms.
Kumar, DG – EPCH informed that the reason behind visit of large number of buyers at 48th edition of IHGF Delhi fair Autumn 2019 from various countries is that EPCH has undertaken extensive promotion and publicity campaign all across the globe through advertisements in International magazines, online portals, outdoor media and road shows at various International shows.
The handicrafts exports during the year 2018-19 were Rs. 26,590.25 cr. However, the exports of handicrafts during 6 months i.e. April-Sept., 2019-20 is Rs. 12,543.07 cr registering a growth of 2.11 percent over the same period last year informed Kumar, DG – EPCH. The next edition of IHGF-Delhi fair Spring will be held from 15 – 19 April, 2020.
