GI tagged crafts, wellness and organic food fair at Expo Mart from July 20

NOIDA: From Mainpuri’s tarkashi, Muzaffarnagar’s jaggery, Sambhal’s horn craft and teas to Gamusa and Muga silk from Assam etc, the 2nd edition of GI (geographical indication) fair at the India Expo Centre and Mart, Greater Noida aims to offer all.
The fair, which kickstarts from Thursday, July 20 to 24 will be inaugurated by Darshana Vikram Jardosh, Union minister of state for textiles.
The fair offers GI-tagged crafts, organic foods, home décor, lifestyle, beauty, wellness and more from across India. A geographical indication (GI) tag is given to products that have distinct qualities and traditions linked to their place of origin.
With over 440 products registered as GI tagged in India, the five-day fair aims to be the largest congregation of GI products and authorized producers along with overseas buyers, domestic traders and consumers. Entry is free.
Dr Rakesh Kumar, chairman of India Expo Centre and Mart Limited (IEML) maintained that due to diversity in culture, heritage and topography, each region of India boasts many rarities, some still unknown to qualify as GI-tagged products. “At the GI Fair India, it is a carnival-like opportunity to immerse in as well as experience all this variety and buy what one likes.”
So one can expect to find Muzaffarnagar’s jaggery, Sambhal’s horn craft, Mainpuri’s tarkashi; teas, Gamusa and Muga silk from Assam, traditional moirang phee (garments) from Manipur to Jamnagar bandhani, Kutch shawls, and Surat’s zari craft from Gujarat.”
Further attractions include the bidriware and Ilkal sarees from Karnataka, Bomkai sarees, Pattachitra and Konark stone craft of Odisha; blue pottery, Sanganeri hand block printing of Rajasthan, gulabi meenakari, Banaras brocade and Lucknow’s Chikan craft from Uttar Pradesh to Chamba rumal and Kullu shawls from Himachal Pradesh.
Organic food attractions include tezpata, aipan art and Munsyari rajma from Uttarakhand, Kangra tea, to Allepy green cardamom and Vedic era mirror and navara rice from Kerala amongst many others. “The fair is an experience in itself,” said Dileep Baid chairman, of the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts (EPCH).
Organised by the EPCH, the fair is supported by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Textiles, Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM) and Management and Geographical Indications Registry Department (MGIRD), controller general of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (PDTM).
Exhibitors from the several states and union territories of India will also be part of the fair. Some of these include the Tea and Spices Boards of India, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APFPEDA), Jammu and Kashmir Trade Promotion Organization (JKTPO), Uttarakhand Handloom and Handicraft Development Council (UHHDC), Uttarakhand Organic Commodities Board (UOCB), Goa State Council for Science and Technology (GSCST) and many others.
As per Dr Neeraj Khanna, vice chairman of EPCH the exhibitors at the fair will share backgrounds and stories about their products, crafts and hand skills. “India GI Fair aims to connect these invaluable native products, aptly called ‘legal local’, to connoisseurs and clientele in India as well as the global market.”
Highlighting the fair as a great business opportunity, RK Verma, executive director of EPCH said, “Here one can see and source India’s best-nurtured treasures and traditions. The show offers buyers a great opportunity.”
The fair will also have GI theme clusters and hubs, live demonstration of products and seminars.