Indian Handicrafts Fair Attracts 5,000 Overseas Buyers.

The four-day annual Indian Handicrafts and Gifts Fair (IHGF) held in Greater Noida near the country’s capital New Delhi attracted around 5,000 buyers from overseas.

The fair organized by the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) with an intention to draw foreign buyers, displayed 950 product lines, styles and designs and a collection of eco-friendly handicraft items prepared by 2,300 craftsmen. IHGF was open only to bulk and trade buyers.

Eco-friendly items prepared from various kinds of raw materials like wool, jute, natural fibre textiles, silk, leather, coir, and vegetable dyes were the main focus of the fair, while items prepared by the north-eastern States and Jammu and Kashmir were a special attraction.

As stated by EPCH Chairman Arvind Vadhera, the fair solely aimed at bringing all indigenous and specialised handicraft items and raw material bases from all corners of the country under one roof, for display before the world market.

He further said that India’s handicraft exports, which have been hard hit by financial crunch in its key export markets, are now slowly recuperating and moving to re-establish themselves at earlier levels.

EPCH has already attained the handicrafts export target set for the current year and expects to surpass it, Mr. Vadhera said. He added that the organisation looks forward to grab new buyers from markets like Central Asia, United States, Latin America and Africa, and thereby take the current year’s exports to eight billion rupees.

EPCH is a nodal agency under the Ministry of Textiles, working for promotion of Indian handicrafts and presents India before the world as a reliable supplier of premium quality handicrafts. The Council has been organizing the annual IHGF since 1994.

Source : fibre2fashion.com