Handicraft fair generates business enquiries worth Rs 2500 crore

GREATER NOIDA: The Indian Handicrafts and Gifts Fair which concluded here today generated business enquiries worth Rs 2,500 crore.

Over 6,900 trade visitors including International buyers, buying agents, domestic volume retailers interacted with 2,750 exhibitors making it Asia's largest platform to source Indian handicrafts.

The fair was organised by Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) - the nodal agency for promotion of Handicrafts exports from the country.

More than 1600 types of products including houseware, tableware, kitchenware, home furnishing and fashion jewellery were exhibited at the fair.

A region wise analysis indicated that companies from Jodhpur, followed by Moradabad cluster attracted the maximum footfalls.

"Handicraft exports has been growing at an average annual growth rate of 15 per cent during the last decade. However, the growth during the current year was 30.80 per cent in rupee terms and 17.55 per cent in dollars terms as compared to previous year. The exports of handicrafts during the year 2013-14 was Rs 23,504.42 crore, said Rakesh Kumar, Executive Director, EPCH.

Various seminars on business through e-commerce, Vriksh-Indian Timber Legality Assessment and Verification programme were also organised today along with a round table on retail attended by industry experts.

Ajai Shankar Memorial Awards for best display and design were presented in fifteen product categories. The furniture category award was bagged by Sushil Udyog and Aztec Shiva both of Jodhpur, bathroom accessories award by Giftland Handicrafts (Moradabad), sustainable products award by Bally Jute Company (Kolkata) and lamps & lighting awards by DBA Export India (Moradabad).