India Handicrafts and Gifts Fair opens today; over 5,000 buyers from 110 countries to participate

The India Handicrafts and Gifts Fair (IHGF)-Delhi Fair Autumn 2016 will commence at India Expo Centre and Mart, Greater Noida Expressway, in the National Capital Region (NCR) from October14-18.

Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) Executive Director Rakesh Kumar said the 42nd edition of IHGF will have more than 2,950 exhibitors from all over the Country, exhibiting around 2,000 product lines, styles and designs of home, lifestyles, fashion and textiles products, spread over an area of 1,90,000 sq. metres.

He said more than 5,000 buyers from more than 110 countries, and more than 450 buying agents are participating in the fair, which is being organised by Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH).

The fair is unique as the exhibitors constitute Indian participants only and buyers come from all over the globe to source a wide and varied range of products from India to cater to all segment of consumers in their home countries.

Kumar added that the speciality of this fair is that the products on display are all of good quality and high variety, and thus, buyers can select products for meeting the requirement of high-end, middle-end as well as mass and low-end consumers. Another unique feature of Indian product range is that they are hand-crafted; machines are used only for finishing purposes.

Products on display will include gifts and decorative items, furniture, home furnishing, house ware, fashion jewellery and accessories, lamps and lighting, Christmas and festive decor, carpets and rugs, bathroom accessories, garden decorative items, educational toys and games, handmade paper products, leather bags and cases candles, incense and potpourri.

The products are made from a varied raw material base consisting of wood, metal, cane and bamboo, textiles, natural fibres, wool, silk, jute, coir, stones, bone and horn, terracotta and lacquer, etc.

Editors of international publications pertaining to gifts, house ware and decorative items from Australia and the U.K. will also visit the show to see the range and quality of products on display and carry back stories to be published in subsequent issues.

Apart from overseas buyers, domestic volume retail buyers from many leading retail chains and e-commerce firms have confirmed their participation in IHGF-Delhi Fair Autumn. Representatives of buying houses, buying agents, importers and wholesalers from America and Europe will also be visiting the fair.

One of the highlights of the fair will be setting up of thematic pavilion of products from North Eastern Region. Products like bags made out of natural fibre, cane and bamboo, furniture, decorative items, gifts, dry flowers, shawls and hand woven textiles and made-ups are expected to be the attraction to the visitors and the entrepreneurs from this region will be able to secure good business orders.

Further, handicrafts of mega clusters like lace and lace crafts from Narsapur (Andhra Pradesh) and wooden handicrafts from Jodhpur would also be on display at the show.

To upgrade the knowledge of the participating companies, informative seminars at the venue, covering topics such as enhancing exports to US market, cyber security, Internet as a growth driver. A round table conference of eminent speakers from retail and e-commerce on 360° marketing - home and beyond will also be held during the show.

The handicraft export during 2015-16 was Rs. 21457.91 crore with an overall increase of 6.85 percent over the previous year. During the first six months of current financial year i.e. 2016-17, export to the tune of Rs. 13,005.35 crore has been achieved, and it is hoped that target fixed for the year 2016-17 will be surpassed.