Jamshedpur, Nov. 28: Spending heavily does not necessarily mean spending correctly.

Jharkhand, perhaps, learnt this bitter lesson from its neighbour Chhattisgarh at the India International Trade Fair (IITF) in Delhi that ended yesterday.

Despite spending much less than Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh bagged the second spot along with Kerala at the 14-day trade fair that attracted over 30 lakh people. Jharkhand did not even figure among the winners, which had Gujarat at the top of the list.

A three-member panel of the IITF checked out the pavilions thrice before it announced the winners. The decisions were based on different parameters like decoration, layout of the pavilion, supply of information to the visitors in different sectors.

But, while Chhattisgarh?s budget did not exceed Rs 1 crore, Jharkhand spent nearly Rs 1.4 crore on the fair. And the secret behind their success?

?We had planned in a very methodical manner,? said the winning state?s industry minister Rajesh Munat.

Crestfallen Jharkhand in dustry officials said they had expected the state?s name to figure on the list of winners. ?Our pavilion had won many hearts. But the drawback was that unlike several other states, we did not have a permanent stall,? said an industry department official. But for that matter, Chhattisgarh, too, faced the same problem.

Industrialists, however, feel the state had put up ?nothing extraordinary?. ?Compared to 2004, this year?s was a better performance. But when you compare it with other pavilions, Jharkhand had nothing to boast of,? said an industrialist.

State finance and urban development minister Raghubar Das, on the other hand, said: ?So what if Jharkhand did not figure on the winners? list? Advanced states like Maharashtra or Karnataka also did not get a prize. The main thing is participation and not winning.?