We visited the Carpet Expo to get information about and also to study developments in the Indian sector.  The show was held during the 2-5 March 2008. Also, significant connections were made by Marka Group’s agent who was also present at the show. The President of CEPC Ashok Jain answered our questions about the fair:

Could you explain the ICE fair? What is the importance of this fair for you?

Indian Carpet Expo (ICE) has been organized for the past 12 years. CEPC overtook the responsibility of this organization 4 years ago. This fair is being organized twice a year once in New Delhi in March and the second in Varanasi in October. This organization began by the initiation of the state who gave this responsibility to CEPC. The aim of CEPC is to gather all sellers and the buyers under the same roof. It was very difficult especially in the past for an Indian carpet manufacturer to attend big carpet shows abroad. However with the aid of the state and the help of CEPC, attending these fairs are becoming easier. The states aid is very beneficial for these manufacturers, especially when we take a look at their sales and productions scales we can see a significant increase. The Indian carpet sector is developing rapidly. India is known as a country with perfect adaptation skills to change. Whether we concentrating mainly on the European and American markets. We can offer them thousands of different arrays of colour, products, and price ranges.

The main purpose of this organization is to support hand made carpet manufacturers in India. The prices of hand made carpets manufactured in India are similar to the prices of machine made carpets around the globe. This sector is very important in India.  Like countries such as Nepal, China, and Pakistan, our goal is to take advantage of our creativity and talent. There is no competition between countries producing machine made carpets and us. They are two very different things. Our aim is to exhibit original, artistic hand made carpets. India is not a country which lacks originality and capacity of production. State policies are very clear and well-organized. We can produce better, and cheaper products in a more organized way.

Which countries do you export to?

The countries which we export to the most are America, Germany, Italy, and Spain.

What materials and fibers do you use other than wool?

The materials which we use other wool are silk, cotton, jute and leather. However, we use silk and wool the most.

The vice president of CEPC Raja Sharma answered our questions:

What is the place of India in the world carpet trade?

India is in the lead in carpet exporting around the world. We would like to increase this number by targeting developing countries which are able to buy hand made carpets. One of these countries is Poland, it is economically developing, and their buying power is increasing.

What do you think about the carpet sector in Turkey?

In the past, Turkey was competing with India in hand made carpet manufacturing, but because of several reasons Turkey has chosen to manufacture machine carpets instead. I do not believe this will happen to us, however there could be increases on prices. Turkey experienced a transformation from being asian to becoming European, which has in return increased taxes and prices. India is different in the fact that it is more crowded. Unemployment rate is very high, people need jobs. Change is slowly acceptable in India, there could be a small increase in prices however there is always a need for hand made products. Carpet weaving is an art, so there will be always a market for it. I think it is awful for Turkey to loose its carpet weavers. I believe, the answer should not have been switching to machine carpeting. Once you switch to the machine carpeting, then you have to start competing with China which is practically impossible. In China production is cheaper using less people, the quality of the products might be speculative but there is no difference at first.  

If this is true then what will Turkey do? It was avery short-sighted gain strategy, they should have developed their hand made carpeting, they should have increased their prices but should not have given up.

What is the portion of the carpet sector in the Indian economy?

It is a very small. Carpet exporting cannot be compared with data processing technology or jewelry export. However it employs a huge number of workers in the sector, therefore it is very important for the economy of India. For example, if one person works for one dolar in the data processing technology sector, ten people are work for one dolar in the carpet sector. For the developing of India there is need of education and job opportunities. And the carpet sector provides a great number of job opportunities. 3 million people are working in the carpet sector in India. India shares in 37% of the world’s hand made carpet trade. We are the leader in the sector and China follows us.