GUWAHATI, June 10: Eighteen elegant showrooms at the Indian Exposition Mart at Noida, New Delhi would soon be graced with fashion wears and handicrafts exclusively from the North-east. The North Eastern Development Finance Corporation’s (NEDFi) proposal to book the stalls in the proposed India Exposition Mart at New Delhi, developed by the Export Promotion Council of Handicrafts has been approved and sanctioned by the North Eastern Council (NEC). The permanent stalls have been taken on lease by NEDFi at a cost of Rs 2.34 crore. The money has been sanctioned by the NEC.
The objective is to encourage bulk sale and to promote export. The implementing agency, NEDFi is planning to facilitate state-owned agencies as well as private entrepreneurs to display finished products from the north-eastern States. Each of the 24 sq metre 18 showrooms have been procured at a cost of Rs 13 lakh. The NEC has already made available Rs 1 crore to NEDFi.
The Construction of the mart is going on in full swing. It may be mentioned here that more than 900 units have already been booked at the mart in the first phase while more than 450 exporters from the cottage sector have shown their willingness to have marts in the second phase.
The project, launched by the Export Promotion Council of India, under the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India, targets small and medium exporters of handloom and handicraft, jute, carpet, silk and other similar product groups. It is expected that the show rooms in a nodal place like the institutional area of Greater Noida adjacent to Greater Noida Expressway in a single exposition with all the modern infrastructure facilities will definitely be a focal point of attraction for importers.
Some other expected achievements of the mart are: Revival of the languishing crafts and providing employment opportunities to artisans, especially women and minorities from the north-eastern region, to increase foreign exchange earning for the region which has neligible share of exports despite vast potential of the export of handloom and handicraft, opportunities for test marketing of new products in international market, and information to exporters about consumer purchase trend in world markets and thereby assist in targeting export markets.