The 30th India Carpet Expo (11th in Varanasi), an exclusive trade fair for handmade carpets and other floor-coverings, organized by Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC), in the premises of Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, Varanasi was declared open on 11th October, 2015 where 303 exporters of handmade carpets from different craft pockets in India are showcasing their products at the Expo.

The four-day fair was inaugurated by Dr. Sanjay Kumar Panda, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Textiles. On this occasion, Dr. Panda mentioned that the handmade carpet industry provides employment to people belonging to the weaker sections of the society in rural areas.

On the very first day of the fair, more than 220 overseas carpet buyers registered their presence along with 180 buying representatives. The products displayed in the exhibition clearly establish that India is a producer of wide range of quality products suited to the requirements of buyers & consumers.

Shri Kuldeep R. Wattal, Chairman, CEPC informed that handmade carpet exports have been showing an upward trend of 17%, possible only due to the full support of the Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India. He also conveyed his sincere gratitude to the Govt. of India on behalf of the carpet industry for the financial support for organizing India Carpet Expo.

He expressed confidence that the Expo will generate good business and has requested the media to extend their full support to the cottage based, employment oriented handmade carpet industry that provides employment to millions of artisans/weavers.

Carpet Export Promotion Council has been tasked with training women artisans in Jayapura village and surrounding areas. Besides providing trainers, necessary infrastructure and raw materials, a monthly stipend too is provided to the trainees, under this skill development initiative of the Ministry.

These trained artisans are also being linked with major exporting firms so as to provide them with weaving assignments. This will help the handmade carpet industry in making up for the shortage of skilled weavers, a major worrying factor for the industry.

The Carpet Export Promotion Council has also been assigned to provide carpet weaving looms and work-sheds to these trained artisans of Jayapura Village with the aim of making them self-sufficient entrepreneurs in the days ahead.

Around 440 overseas carpet buyers from 60 countries, mainly from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ghana, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Palestine, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, U.A.E., U.K., U.S.A. and Ukraine have registered with the Council to visit the fair. Selected buyers from each country have been offered incentives by the Council to visit the fair.

Indian Carpet Expo will be the largest trade fair organized so far, for the carpet industry. The fair will remain open for business till 14th October, 2015.