Indian Handicraft exporters set to display their craft at IHGF 2021 during 28th to 31st October
Greater Noida – 27th October 2021 – The 52nd edition of one of the world’s largest handicrafts fair i.e. IHGF-Delhi fair is all set to open after 2 long years in a physical format. The fair will host overseas buyers, buying and sourcing consultants as well as large domestic volume retail buyers during 28th October to 31st October, 2021 at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida. The four days extravaganza starting from 28th October will showcase the home, lifestyle, fashion and textiles products of more than 1500+ Indian handicrafts exporters from all across the Country, informed Raj Kumar Malhotra, Chairman-EPCH
Briefing further, he informed that the IHGF-Delhi Fair Autumn 2021 is one of its kind of a fair and this edition will have a comprehensive selection of over 2000+ new products and more than 300 design expressions spanning across 12 product categories such as houseware, home furnishing, furniture, gifts and decoratives, lamps and lighting, Christmas & festive décor, fashion jewellery & accessories, spa & wellness, carpets and rugs, bathroom accessories, garden accessories, educational toys & games, handmade paper products & stationery and leather bags. The exhibition will have representation of over 650 exhibitors in 8 halls and 900 permanent showrooms in the mart area.
When asked about the impact of Covid on the handicrafts sector during a press conference on Wednesday, Malhotra said that the council managed to minimize the impact of Covid on Handicrafts sector and prevented Handicrafts exports from falling in 20-21 despite the Covid situation by organizing 3 editions of IHGF in a virtual format which allowed exporters and buyers to keep in touch.
When asked about the competition with China in Handicrafts sector, Malhotra said that the Chinese handicrafts cannot compete with Indian handicrafts. He said that Chinese handicrafts are actually not ‘handcrafted’ as over 90% of their handicrafts products are manufactured through machines whereas in India only 10% of handicrafts are manufactured via machines and rest are ‘handcrafted’. China also tends to copy the Indian handicrafts design as they lack originality, he added.
Dr. Rakesh Kumar – Director General – EPCH informed that EPCH is organizing this fair with all necessary safety protocols and SOPs pertaining to Covid-19 for organising B2B trade expositions issued by WHO and Government of India. EPCH has laid down guidelines to be followed by the exhibitors, buyers and visitors at the fair venue which include thermal scanning entry, colour badge wise entry, compulsory wearing of face masks, hand sanitization machines, maintaining physical distancing, respiratory etiquettes, medical facility, Isolation centre at the venue, COVID enforcement officer, Aarogya Setu App (for domestic visitors), CCTV, F&B services with proper hygiene etc.
The visitors profile to the show includes overseas buyers from across the globe who are the wholesalers, distributors, chain stores, departmental stores, retailers, mail order companies, brand owners, buying houses and designers and trend forecasters.
The overseas buyers from over 90 countries including United States, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, France, Australia, Netherlands, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Israel, Brazil, Canada, Belgium, Italy, South Korea, Nigeria, Sweden, Colombia, Argentina, Greece, Namibia, Palestine, Russia, Chile, Japan, Kuwait, Singapore, Denmark, Ghana, New Zealand, Austria, Ecuador, Hong Kong, Qatar, Ukraine, Bangladesh, Egypt, Kenya, Mexico, Norway, Panama, Peru, Poland, Senegal, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tunisia, Uruguay, Vietnam, Bahrain, Bolivia, China, Congo Republic, Curaçao, Fiji, Guatemala, Iceland, Jordan, Lithuania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nepal, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Réunion, Romania, Seychelles, Slovenia, Trinidad and Tobago and many more have registered themselves for the fair.
The show will also have visitors from major Indian Retail/online brands including Amazon, Reliance Brands Limited, Landmark Group (India), Fab India, Praxis Home Retail Limited, @Home by Nilkamal Limited, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail ltd, Furniturewalla, Westside, The Bombay Store, Home Town, Godrej Interio, India Bazar, Signify India (Formerly Philips Lighting), Future Group, Archies, Qalara, One Stop Retail Private Limited, Shoppers stop, Reliance Retail – Ajio business, Home centre, Praxis Home Retail Ltd. etc.
Buyers from across the globe prefer to visit to IHGF-Delhi fair because the India offers exquisite products range, attractive prices, different varieties, distinct quality and new product lines.
Theme pavilion of North Eastern Handicrafts, Rajasthan, Ladakh, J&K, Bihar and Southern Region will be one of the attractions for the visiting overseas buying community, further informed Dr. Kumar.
Knowledge seminars will be on different and important subjects like awareness seminars on Trends & Forecast- Heal Hope and Happiness: Handicrafts in Post Pandemic World, “Cyber Security & Proactive Measures”and “Packaging Solutions for Handicrafts Sector”.
Raj Kumar Malhotra, Chairman – EPCH, informed that in order to give wide publicity to the show, the Council has undertaken extensive promotion and publicity campaign all across the globe through digital advertisements in International magazines, their digital publications, online portals, web banners etc. Further, Indian Embassies extended invitation to buyers and importers in their respective countries. The fair has been widely covered in digital publications and social media.
The Handicrafts exports during the six months of current financial year from April to September, 2021-22 is Rs. 15995.73 Crores registering a growth of over 60.34% over the same period in last year.
