The 51st IHGF Delhi Fair organized by Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH), scheduled to be held from May 19 - 23, 2021 at India Expo Centre and Mart at Greater Noida has been restructured. EPCH’s decision to restructure the event will provide a fresh air of relief to the businesses of the numerous small and medium exporters who were adversely affected since the last year by the pandemic.

Throwing light on the development, Ravi K Passi, Chairman, EPCH said that the restructured fair will be held in the permanent mart area of the India Expo Centre and Mart and would enable availability of the entire Mart area to the exhibitors who are keen to participate in the fair.

Further he added that it is important to note that the lockdown in countries like Germany, France, UK, Denmark, etc. were extended which may affect the footfall of visitors. However, 70 percent of India’s exports of handicrafts are to markets in US, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan where the situation is better than other parts of the world. EPCH has received confirmation from over 500 overseas buyers who wish to participate in the trade fair.

Echoing Passi’s views, Dr. Rakesh Kumar, Director General, EPCH said that there are over 11,000 exporters who are registered with the council and providing livelihood to over 7 million artisans from across the country and they will find avenues to augment their business through the show. 

Exports of handicrafts for the period April 2020 - February 2021 was INR 22774.58 crore (USD 3062.76 million) registering a negative growth of - 3.40 percent in rupees and - 8.31 percent in dollars. Dr Kumar said that the forthcoming exhibition will help in arresting the downturns in exports.