Trade fair comes to an end, witnesses impressive footfall

With over 1.5 lakh visitors on Sunday, the last day of the 36th India International Trade Fair (IITF) witnessed around 14 lakh footfall this time. The participants have expressed their happiness over the footfall, despite demonetisation. 

The trade fair had witnessed a good turnout on Saturday too. Brisk sale of various products was witnessed due to several initiatives undertaken by the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) to improve cashless transaction. Many visitors expressed happiness over their shopping experience.

On the concluding day, ITPO officials said ‘Start Up India’ would be the the theme for the annual event in 2017.

LC Goyal, chairman and managing director of the ITPO, said a total of 14 lakh visitors thronged the annual extravaganza this year. He added that the ITPO took elaborate steps to ensure enough cash availability. Besides, cashless transactions, with active support of the banks, was encouraged, which led to a positive impact on business transactions and overall footfall, he said. 

Goyal reiterated that the IITF was synonymous with ITPO and would be organised in a new format as the organisation was poised to initiate its redevelopment plan Integrated Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre (IECC) for Pragati Maidan. All states and Central ministries would be provided space as usual in IITF 2017.

‘Partner Country’ South Korea, ‘Focus Country’ Belarus and ‘Partner States’ Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand, and ‘Focus State’ Haryana were also awarded. 

This year, Kerala won the Gold medal, while Gujarat bagged Silver in the States and Union Territories category. In the North-East States category, Meghalaya bagged the Gold medal and commendation honour won by Tripura and Assam. 

South Korea received the Gold medal and Baharain received the Silver, while Turkey and Myanmar were felicitated with commendation in the foreign sector. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Power bagged Gold and Silver medals, respectively, in the Ministries and Department category; while the Ministry of Power Resources & River Development & Ganga Resources alongwith Income Tax Department were awarded with commendations. 

The ‘Digital India’ Pavilion, the theme pavilion, was honoured with the Gold medal. Bihar bagged Gold and Assam won the Silver medal in the Swachh Bharat category.