The Carpet Expo Mart inaugurated by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at Bhadohi has emerged as a boon in tough times by bringing sellers and buyers under a single roof.
Earlier, Bhadohi's carpet producers were forced to take their products to Delhi or other places in order to sell them. However, the Carpet Expo Mart has infused fresh life into the world-renowned Bhadohi carpet industry of hand-woven carpets by attracting buyers nationally and internationally.
An official spokesman of the government claimed here on Sunday that the carpet industry played a crucial role in supplementing the economy of places like Bhadohi, Varanasi and Mirzapur. He said over 1,500 registered companies were engaged in making and exporting carpets in these three districts. He said it had linked the lives of more than two lakh weavers and their nearly 10 lakh families in Bhadohi and Varanasi region alone.
With the launch of Carpet Expo Mart, carpet producers have saved a lot of their income. Both buyers and sellers have benefited from this project as the former is provided access to more variety while the latter earn more profit.
Since the launch of the Carpet Expo Mart, the foreign tourists, during their visits, have also shown keen interest in buying the carpets made in Bhadohi. As a result of the growing demand for the carpets made in Bhadohi even internationally, the Carpet Export Promotion Council (CEPC) has decided to organise a national and international level carpet fair. The idea behind the fair is to bridge the gap between Indian handmade carpet products and their demand across the globe during the pandemic period.
According to Bhadohi's carpet trader Firoz Waziri, even during the COVID-19 crisis, carpet orders kept coming from abroad, which were also fulfilled. He said this was the reason that in the year 2020-21, the carpet industry could export Rs 4,108.37 crore from the state whereas in 2019-20, the carpet industry of UP could make exports worth only Rs 3,704.05 crore.
Regarding the reason for the increase in carpet exports, Waziri said that the carpet made here went to many cities of the country including Mumbai, Delhi, Gujarat, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and many other countries including America, Europe, Germany, Japan. Most of the exports are done in the USA.
Asif Raza of Bhadohi said that even during the COVID-19 crisis, the carpet industry was not affected. He said due to the unique design and genuine quality of the carpets made in Bhadohi, people while sitting in their homes changed their old carpets to new ones. Raza added that India’s carpet industry competes internationally with many carpet producing countries, but even after that, the dominance of Indian carpets in foreign markets remains intact.
Raza added that exports were increasing due to better marketing skills of exporters as well as policies of the Central and state governments.
It is worth noting that the Carpet Mart in Bhadohi city is the largest carpet mart in the country. This mart has a grand meeting hall, fireproof kitchen and central air-conditioner. All these features attract international buyers. With the opening of this Carpet Mart, there has been an increase in the sales of Persian carpets. Persian carpets are the most expensive in the world. Persian carpet accounts for about 10 percent of the total carpets sold abroad.
Persian carpets were made 250 years ago by people from Iran who started making them in Bhadohi. There are about 182 fine bales in a square inch of Persian carpet. The finer the knot, the higher is the price. Natural dyes are used in these carpets. These colours are made from the leaves of plants, and tea leaves. This carpet is being exported extensively to places like America, Germany, Australia and Canada and is dominating the foreign carpet industry significantly.