Innovations, Theme Pavilions & Regional Crafts among major attractions at IHGF Delhi Fair 2021

Greater Noida – 29^th October 2021 – Collective displays of North Eastern Handicrafts, Rajasthan, J&K and Southern Region are among major attractions for the visiting overseas buying community at this edition of IHGF Delhi Fair Autumn 2021 which opened on 28th of October. “As part of its design intervention, hand holding and confidence building initiatives, EPCH has successfully brought several artisans and crafts persons into its fold and gradually introduced them into the mainstream handicrafts industry. Many artisans have benefited from opportunities to fine-tune their craft products and transition into entrepreneurs and exporters thereafter. This way the industry and buyers too have gained from new assortments and innovations involving resources & skills from grassroots artisans from far flung craft pockets and villages in India, visitors to this fair have shared that regional Indian crafts with indigenous skills have a lot of potential to grow in world markets,” informed Dr. Rakesh Kumar, Director General, EPCH.

“Buyers in good numbers visited the fair during the first two days and shared their interest in placing orders with their regular and new exhibitors at the fair. Many have got their suppliers through earlier edition of the fair. While international travel is yet to open up completely, buyers who have travelled all the way to India are serious about their sourcing. Those who couldn’t visit have their agents and India representatives meet the exhibitors on their behalf,” said Raj K Malhotra, Chairman-EPCH.

R. K.Verma, Executive Director-EPCH informed that Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Union Minister of Jal Shakti visited the fair and congratulated EPCH on their return with IHGF – Delhi Fair Autumn 2021 in physical mode. He met the exhibitors and appreciated their wide range of products on display.

Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat interacted with the students of CHEMS – Centre for Handicrafts Exports Management Studies, an education initiative of EPCH and encouraged them to become entrepreneurs in future as it will be a big responsibility for coming generation. Minister also appreciated and awarded certificates to the students for completion of their CHEMS course.

Tamra Bryant leading regular overseas buyer from USA while visiting the IHGF Delhi Fair Autumn’21 said that she was so excited to be back in India and thanked the organizer, the Indian Government and specifically the exhibitors of IHGF Delhi Fair’21.

Suzan leading overseas buyers from Germany visiting the IHGF fair for the first time said that she was amazed to see the wide range of domestic hand-crafted products on display by more than 1500 indigenous exhibitors.

Raj Kumar Malhotra, Chairman-EPCH informed that the North Eastern Region display area offers cane & bamboo products, home decor, textile crafts, cushion covers, table mats, runners, baskets and bins, home utility products, pottery crafts, lamps, terracotta toys, wall hangings, handmade paper products, stoles, scarves, bags, jewellery, etc. Sustainable and eco-friendly decor items adorn various stalls while the bamboo products, unique in design and technique, are extremely impressive. The region’s embrace of modernity with tradition is evident in its products. Visitors have plenty of choice from 21 exhibitor stalls here.

He further mentioned that Rajasthan is represented by crafts from Barmer, Jaisalmer and Jodhpur. The leather craft cluster of Barmer, hand embroidery craft cluster of Jaisalmer and art metal craft cluster of Jodhpur have come together to represent the best of Rajasthan. From the Leather craft cluster of Barmer there are purses & wallets, compact key holders, backpacks, travel bags, messenger bags, mudda, portfolio folders and other handcrafted leather accessories. Artisans from the Hand Embroidery craft cluster of Jaisalmer bring to you skillful embroidery, mirror work, appliqued quilts, attractive design motifs and shawls in Bandhani. From the Art metal craft cluster of Jodhpur, it is a mixed product combination dominated by decoratives & gifts, wall décor and artistic hardware accessories.

A regional collective display of J&K crafts brings together entrepreneurs and artisans from this extreme northern state of India to IHGF Delhi Fair-Autumn 2021. Visitors can warm up to a display of rugs, carpets, shawls & stoles, home furnishings, woodcrafts and papier mache products. The overall display at the J&K Theme Pavilion includes stalls of 12 entrepreneurs and exporters with their product ranges in rugs, carpets, shawls & stoles, scarves, home furnishings, woodcrafts and papier mache products, added Mr. Malhotra, Chairman-EPCH.

The participants at the Southern Region theme display at IHGF Delhi Fair offer crochet lace home textiles from Andhra Pradesh; jewellery in various mediums, terracotta utility & decoratives, masks, cane & bamboo products as well as screwpine and water hyacinth home and office products from Kerala; Channapatna toys (lacquerware), educational toys and jewellery, Kinhal toys, wall plates and dolls as well as agarbatti and perfumed soaps from Karnataka; tie & dye and Kalamkari artisanal apparel accessories, handmade footwear and home lines from Telangana; and hand embroidered products in made ups and home furnishing, seashell accessories and jute table mats, purses and file covers from Tamil Nadu , informed Dr. Rakesh Kumar, Director General- EPCH.

Informative seminar during the fair on topics like Trends & Forecast- Heal, Hope and Happiness was well attended by exhibitors, added further Dr. Rakesh Kumar, Director General-EPCH

EPCH is a nodal agency for promoting exports of handicrafts from the Country to various destinations of the world and projecting India’s image abroad as a reliable supplier of high quality handicrafts goods & services. 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 last year.