SUCCESSFUL CONCLUSION OF THE FIVE-DAY LONG BUYER-SELLER MEET ON “HANDICRAFTS OF BIHAR” AT PATNA FROM 26TH TO 30TH SEPTEMBER, 2018

The five-day long joint Buyer-Seller Meet and Mahila Udyog Mela from 26^th to 30^th September, 2018 has concluded today.  The counter sales of Rs. 1.5 crores have been ensured in the Mahila Udyog Mela. On the other hand, the Buyer-Seller Meet has ensured the counter sale of Rs 50 lakhs during the five days event. However, the perspective of Buyer-Seller Meet was to promote the handicrafts of Bihar and create orders for them.

 The event was concluded by the Honourable Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare (Government of India), Sri Ashwini Choubey. He has expressed great pleasure on the occasion. The President of the Mahila Udyog Mela, Smt. Usha Jha has presided over the concluding session and Deputy Director of the Upendra Maharathi Shilp Anusandhan Sansthan (UMSAS) Mr. Ashok Kumar Sinha was the Special Guest.   

The Buyer-Seller Meet on “Handicrafts of Bihar” at Gyan Bhawan, Patna was held successfully in which more than Rupees seven crores of business is expected in future months by way of supply to various states and export to other countries. The current Buyer-Seller Meet is being implemented by Upendra Maharathi Shilp Anusandhan San  sthan consisting of 11 crafts spread in 15 craft-clusters across 10 districts of Bihar.

Most of the Buyers were well acquainted with the Madhubani painting but they had no idea about other crafts of Bihar. Hence, the Buyer-Seller Meet has opened new vistas for Buyers as they could know about various craft clusters of Bihar and they include Madhubani Painting, Sikki Craft, Sujani, Applique-Kasida, Wood Craft, Stone Craft, Manjusha Painting, Tikuli, Bamboo, Jute, Metal Craft, Block printing among others. There is representation from the Carpet Cluster of Kaimur also.

More than three dozen buyers participated in the five-day conclave and they include the buyers from Kolkata, Bhubaneshwar, Delhi, Gwalior, Jaipur, Pune, Mumbai, Varanasi, Lucknow, Bangaluru, Gurugram,  Jodhpur among others! The buyers are having their corporate clients spread nationally and internationally. They have directly interacted with sellers and have also discussed with the officials of the Industries department which include the Principal Secretary Mr. S. Siddharth, Director Mr. Pankaj Kumar Singh and Deputy Director of the Upendra Maharathi Shilp Anusandhan Sansthan (UMSAS) Mr. Ashok Kumar Sinha about the prospects of marketing of Handicraft products of Bihar.

Pankaj Kumar Bhandari from Jodhpur Rajasthan commented that the products (to be exported) must be handy so that they can be easily exported!

Mr. Sanjay Nanda from Nizammuddin, New Delhi commented, “We don’t need expensive products but we need great volume but products must have minimum pricing so that we can place order in a bulk. “The Colour combination and the quality need to be understood by the local artisans because clients of different countries have varied taste for colours along with the standard quality,” according to Bobby Ranjana, from Gurugram. Alka Bharti (from Shahpur Jat, Delhi) is looking after premium products and hence she wants that the respective artisans of Madhubani Painting, Tikuli and Manjusha must adapt the fineness and the neatness of the high-end clients.

 “I am really very happy to see all the kind of products, what is expected in this event ………. I could place very good order from my (International) Buyers….,” admitted by Dhanasekeran from Bangaluru. Shristi Gupta from Noida talked about the grooming of artisans and having leadership quality to promote them in national and international events.

The Buyer-Seller Meet has created an opportunity for the craftsmen of Bihar. Most of the stalls represented the Self-Help-Group of respective craft-wise clusters in the Buyer-Seller Meet. The artisan-entrepreneurs, who represented as sellers, are masters in their own trade as most of them are state awardees or have represented Bihar in various workshops, seminars, trade fairs, and Melas of India and abroad. The live demonstration of Tikuli, Wood Craft, Metal Craft and Terracotta hav attracted maximum audience during the five discourse of Buyer-Seller Meet.