Textiles Secretary urges IHGF organizers to attract 10,000 exhibitors next year

Textiles Secretary further said the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) must explore the possibility of opening handicraft parks in India and develop those parks as tourism and crafts centers.

Textiles Secretary, Ravi Capoor, inaugurated the 48th edition of the Indian Handicrafts and Gifts Fair (IHGF) at the India Expo Centre & Mart at Greater Noida today. Overseas buyers from 110 countries are in India to source home, lifestyle, fashion, furniture and textiles products from around 3200 Indian exhibitors who are participating in the Fair that will be on from 16 – 20 October 2019.

Textiles Secretary, Ravi Capoor, while speaking at the inaugural ceremony, urged the organizers of the IHGF-Delhi Fair to make all efforts to ensure that next year the Fair attracts over 10,000 exhibitors. He further said that with the skills of Indian artisans and the crafts heritage of India the handicrafts industry has the potential to achieve greater growth for not only the sector but for the artisans and the exporters and increase the handicrafts exports of India to Rs. 100,000 crore from the existing Rs. 26,590 crore.

Textiles Secretary further said the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH) must explore the possibility of opening handicraft parks in India and develop those parks as tourism and crafts centers. He welcomed the proposal of EPCH for setting up of handicrafts parks for apparel and handlooms and assured the support of the Textiles Ministry for setting up of apparel and handlooms parks by EPCH. Shifting the production from small organized units to these parks will be beneficial for the small units as it will reduce overhead costs.

He also directed EPCH to include new segments in the IHGF-Delhi Fair for women entrepreneurs and new artisans and also ensure that the handicraft industry works on a sustainable model where the entire production process will function as a zero-waste manufacturing sector.

(With Inputs from PIB)