Spread over an area of 78,000 square meters and 13 exhibition halls, The Helipad Grounds Exhibition Centre of Gandhinagar, Gujarat is serving as the venue for the grandest event in the history of the Indian Textile Industry. The first of its kind, Textiles India is an exhibition of the textile sector of India, in which over 1500 national and international exhibitors are participating. The event is a collaborative effort of 24 export promotion councils under the ministry of Textiles and with Confederation of Indian Industry as the industry partner.
Prime minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugrated the exhibition with the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Vijaybhai Rupani, Union Textiles Minister, Smt Smriti Irani and Textile Minister for the state, Shri Ajay Tamta being in attendance. Shri Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh was also invited as a chief guest to grace the occasion. A three day affair, the exhibition will be open to the general public from 30 June 2017 to 2 July 2017, and 2500 buyers along with 15,000 domestic visitors are expected to attend the event, which is not merely an exhibition but includes a plethora of events, that are listed below-
- Conferences
- B2B-B2G-G2G meetings
- Theme Pavilion
- Fashion Show
- Exhibition
- Round Tables
- State Sessions
- Country Sessions
- Investors Meet
- ASEAN India Seminar
- Signing of moUs
With the first day of the event coming to a promising close, Shri Narendra Modi’s speech served as the icing on the cake. It was euphonic and inspiring as ever, in which he described the event as the best of all that he has attended so far and praised the initiative undertaken jointly by the Union and the state governments along with the textile industry to organise a “Mega International Event”. Appreciating the concept of ‘Unity in Diversity’ in our country, his heartfelt approbation for the exhibition was owing to the exquisite showcasing of the cultural diversity that exists in India, and how one could find fabrics and apparels from across the world at one place. Significance of the Textile Industry is something that Modiji couldn’t emphasise enough on. “The textile industry is like a bridge that connects the agricultural sector and the industry, since it is a part of both.”, said the Prime minister and further explained the way in which the textile industry serves as the base for international relations, and how fabrics are not merely threads but envoys of feelings and emotions that carry cultures across borders. Routes named after the fabric that was transported through them and certain areas of the country, whose names have become synonymous with the fabric that they are renowned for, were other examples that he quoted while chronically highlighting the pivotal role that textile sector plays in the Economy.
The progress made by the country on the economic and social front was the discussion that followed, and made every Indian present in the audience, proud. The golden words that elaborated the development precisely were, “India has moved up 32 places in the last 2 years in the Global Competitive Index of the World Economic Forum, which is the highest for any country till now. Also, India has moved up 19 places in the World Bank Logistics Performance Index 2016 and 16 places on the Global Innovation Index of World Innovation Organization in 2016. Apart from this, we are the largest producers of cotton and Jute in the world and the second largest producers of manmade fabric and a Strong spinning, knitting, weaving and apparel manufacturing capital.
Ending on a happy note, the speech and the first day of the exhibition received applause and approval of the visitors and exhibitors alike and turned out to be a harbinger of a promising, bright future for the Indian Textile Industry.
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