India Carpet Expo, Fall-Winter collection, has grabbed the interest of 350 buyers from across the world where around 305 exhibitors are displaying their products. In one of the biggest carpet fairs in Asia, around 410 carpet importers from 55 countries, mainly from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Chile, Germany, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, UK and USA have registered for the Expo. Notably, Bulgaria, Israel, Malaysia, Mauritius, Taiwan, Zimbabwe, Vietnam, Serbia and Hungary are being represented for the first time at the Expo.

Mahavir Sharma, Chairman, CEPC (Carpet Export Promotion Council) said that the world has entered the ‘Digital Age’ and the need of the hour for every business is to reinvent itself on the global arena. The Indian Handmade Carpet sector is no different than any other. Their only hope is to reach the world with the positives of the Indian handmade carpets against the machine-made carpets and bring in the change which global buyers want to see in their work processes, designs and quality.

Talking about the competition from the machine made carpets from the Chinese markets, Sharma said that there is no such real competition between the markets of the two countries and machine made carpets can never dominate the handmade carpets. They have excelled over China on all the issues including handmade carpet production. The Chinese market simply pampers the country that are making machine made carpets. And Indian carpet industry has nothing to worry about. And as a matter of fact they are exporting handmade rugs to China.

The Expo will generate good business which will help them to support the roots of this industry - the weavers. From the business point of view, the expo is on a good growth. They are expecting to generate a revenue of around 800 to 1000 crore through this edition. These sales will benefit about two million weavers and artisans employed in the labour-intensive rural based MSME cottage industry.

The expo showcases different kinds of carpet from Bhadohi, Mirzapur, Varnasi, Gopiganj, Srinagar, Bikaner, Jaipur and many others. Similarly, the expo also showcases the most uniquely designed to the most expensive carpets.

Umar Hammeed, the owner of the most expensive carpet in the expo, while introducing his product, explained that the reason why this carpet is expensive is that this 9/12 foot carpet has 2500 knots per square inch, which required three and a half years to be manufactured and is completely hand knitted. This particular type of knitting process is called Sinnah. It’s also available in Iran, but they have different format of making it.

Carpets have a way of providing a unique look to any space —whether an office or home — and brings a sense of warmth. So how about the carpet that complements not just your floor but also the walls. The challenge of doing something different is always there. Upon that, the carpet industry involves creativity too. So, they wanted to change the characteristics of carpet, to be used as a wall hanging, said Nauman Waziri, the owner of the award winning carpets for their unique design.

Hamid Tab, a buyer from USA said that it was his first time at the expo which is not just a good opportunity for the exhibitors but also for the buyers like him. Everything here is such a great piece of work. Every stall has something new to say. The hand knitted precision of every carpet doesn’t fail to impress.