New Delhi, Oct 13 (KNN) Giving the handicraft artisans a huge platform to connect with the national and international buyers, the 42nd Edition of India Handicrafts and Gifts Fair (IHGF) will kick-start at India Expo Centre & Mart, Greater Noida, from October 14-18.

The Fair will have more than 2,950 exhibitors from all over the country, exhibiting around 2000 product lines, styles and designs of Home, Lifestyles, Fashion & Textiles products, spread over an area of 1,90,000 sq. metres.

He has said that more than 5000 buyers from more than 110 countries, and more than 450 buying agents are participating in the fair, that is being organized 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.  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, furniture, home furnishing, houseware, fashion jewellery & accessories, lamps and lighting, Christmas and festive décor, carpets and rugs, bathroom accessories, garden decorative, educational toys and games, handmade paper products, leather bags and cases candles, incense & potpourri.

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

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 2016. 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. North Eastern Region is one of the richest regions of the country in terms of eco-friendly crafts.

Products like bags made out of natural fiber, cane and bamboo, furniture, decoratives, 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, cybersecurity, 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 the year 2015-16 was Rs. 21457.91 crores with an overall increase of 6.85% over the previous year. During the first six months of current financial year i.e. 2016-17, exports to the tune of Rs. 13005.35 crore have been achieved, and it is hoped that target fixed for the year 2016-17 will be surpassed.