Trade fair: Bihar pavilion sales worth Rs41 lakh, down from Rs68 lakh

PATNA: The Bihar pavilion at the two-week India International Trade Fair (IITF) at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi this year, reported sales worth around Rs 41 lakh, down from Rs 68 lakh last year.
Official sources attributed the decline in sales to the cash crunch following demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes. “As a precautionary measure though, we had -- in a first -- put up five swipe machines for the customers to make payments through plastic money,” an official said, adding had it not been so, the sales would have been further down.
Pavilion director Umesh Kumar informed TOI payments for almost 60% of the sales were received through cards.
On sale and display at the pavilion were various native artworks, including Sikki, terracotta and Madhubani painting. Bhagalpuri silk and handmade bamboo, coconut shell and bronze items of the Upendra Maharathi Sansthan were also on sale at the 46 stalls in the state pavilion at the fair.
The stalls were allotted to state traders and artists through an open tender floated by the state industries department. “The state government, not the traders and artists, pays for the space as well as their travel expenses,” said pavilion’s PRO Rabindra Kumar Jha.
“Handloom products, especially sari and salwar-suit made of Bhagalpuri silk, were in demand. The buyers preferred products carrying a price tag of Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,000. Saris with Madhubani painting on them sold for Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000,” said Kumar.
The state had also put up a stall at the fair food court, where visitors enjoyed delicacies like litti-chokha, anarsa and lai.
The not-so-good business this year notwithstanding, participants from Bihar returned a happy lot as the state pavilion bagged the gold medal in ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ category for the second consecutive year. “The judges made the decision on the basis of the neatness with which the pavilions were done,” Jha said, adding the Bihar pavilion’s theme hall was decorated with 200 Sikki art lamps.
IITF is an annual event, in which the states of India as well as traders from across the globe participate. Though the trade fair this year began on November 14, it was opened for public on November 19. It ended on November 27.