TERRACOTTA ITEMS ON DISPLAY.TELEGRAPH PICTURES

Bhubaneswar, March 11: The exhibition being held to celebrate the seventh Entrepreneurs’ Week concluded here today.

The week-long fair organised by the National Small Industries Corporation (NSIC) was the first international trade fair for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), organised in Bhubaneswar.

The fair showcased a wide variety of products made by small scale industries for the corporate sector as well as handicrafts, handloom and other items.

Among the 170 stalls at the fair held at Exhibition Ground, a portion was dedicated to industrial equipment made by small organisations from across the state for companies like HAL, Nalco and PPL.

A major part of the fair focused on handicraft items, handloom and decorative products. Crafts from the northeastern states, Shantiniketan in Bengal and tribal products from Orissa were also on display and attracted a lot of people.

Artisans from Assam had brought fascinating crafts made out of bamboo that could be put to daily use or used as decorative items.

“I loved the japi, the traditional bamboo and palm leaf hat of Assam that the artisans had brought. I also collected a couple of dolls made from jute from an Assam stall,” said Priyambada Mohanty.

Terracotta vases and showpieces from Nayagarh, kantha-embroidered bags and kurtis from Shantiniketan, dhokra and metal crafts made by tribal people in Orissa were some popular items at the exhibition. There were mixed reactions about the amount of sales. “Sale is good. Of course, people only drop by during evenings since its hot in the afternoon,” said Harekrushna Muduli, a terracotta artisan from Nayagarh.

The participants from Delhi, Nagaland and other regions were not as happy.

“We feel the publicity was poor since the turnout has been really low,” said an artisan from Uttar Pradesh.

The MSME International Trade Fair held here was one out of the six fairs to be held across the country according to the prime minister’s directive. But the hurried arrangements led to missing of delegates from other countries, said authorities.

“Though it was an international trade fair, we did not have delegates from other countries since this was the first time we held such an event,” said J.K. Mohanta, general manager, NSIC, East and North East. “We will try our best to make it a success next time,” he said.

The event was held from March 5 to 11.