greater noida the 42nd edition of indian handicraft and gift fair ihgf delhi will begin from october 14 till october 18 at india expo centre and mart greater noida the ihgfdelhi fair is a b2b event only for business entrepreneurs not the public with over 2950 exhibitors from india and over 5000 buyers from more than 110 countriesorganised by export promotion council for handicrafts epch the ihgfdelhi autumn fair will display approximately 2000 products in various segments ranging from home furnishings designs lifestyle and fashion jewellery to accessories and textiles other categories include gifts and decoratives furniture lamps and lighting christmas and festive decor carpets rugs bathroom accessories garden decoratives educational toys and games handmade paper products leather bags and cases candles incense and potpourri unlike other fairs this fair has only indian exhibitorsaccording to rakesh kumar epch executive director the specialty of this fair is that products of all range and quality will be on display where buyers can choose for highend middle and mass consumersthe range of indian products is mostly handcrafted and ecofriendly as the raw materials are from natural fibres and dyes with a minimal use of machines india still has the distinction of exclusivity in terms of product design colours and raw material base kumar saidover 5000 overseas buyers from more than 110 countries such as austria belgium croatia cyprus denmark finland france germany greece italy ireland the netherlands spain switzerland russia sweden united kingdom usa canada mexico and latin american countries like brazil argentina chile and colombia and others will be visiting the fairbuyers are also expected from algeria botswana egypt ghana kenya mali mauritius morocco nigeria china japan israel australia newzealand uae saudi arabia and singaporethis will be the biggest b2b exhibition in the ncr region because it boasts a 190000 sq m covered space of display kumar claimeddomestic retailers like archies the bombay store good earth pvt ltd west side home town home centre and home stop are expected to participate in the fair along with ecommerce companies such as pepperfry fab furnish urban ladder and flipkartauthorities say the growth of export of domestic products is encouraging according to reports there was a growth of 3362 in the export of handprinted textiles scarves and embroidered goods 1635 in wood ware and 808 in fashion jewellery and accessories segment last year and the trend is on the rise during the first six months of the fiscal year 20162017 art metal wares registered a growth of 3362 followed by a growth of 1439 in handprinted textiles and embroidered goods and 1413 in wood wares said dinesh kumar chairman epchaccording to the chairman the handicraft exports during the year 201516 was worth rs 2145791 crores with an overall increase of 685 in comparison to the previous year products worth rs 1300535 crore have already been exported within the first half of this fiscal year he added