Thomex.com
The Industrial Expo and Conference 2008, organised at Leisure Valley Ground, Sector 29 Gurgaon received a modest response from exhibitors and visitors alike. The four-day exhibition organised by Paramount Exhibitors along with 25 Industrial Associations began on April 3 and concluded on April 6, 2008.
While inaugurating the show on Thursday, VP Bajaj, President Gurgaon Industrial Association said that the multi-theme exhibition was a step forward in increasing Gurgaon's visibility in the international market and that the show will benefit the local and surrounding industries.
The show was participated by a large number of manufacturers, industrialists and professionals from various fields including Power and Electronics, Pollution control equipment, Water Treatment, Power Electrical, Electronics and Instrumentation, Machinery & Machine Tool, Plastics and packaging, Die and moulding, Industrial parts and supplies, Plant Automation and several others.
The Industrial Expo is among the few events organised in Gurgaon, unlike others which find a prominent venue in Pragati Maidan. "One of the reasons we organised the show here was to be close to Gurgaon-Manesar Industrial belt. As a result, we have the highest concentration of manufacturers from this region participating in the show," said Dr Harish Arora of Chandigarh-based Paramount Exhibitors.
In recent times, Gurgaon has assumed special significance in view of the investment coming to the region and as one of the major manufacturing hub. There are some 402 large and medium scale units with an investment of Rs. 9,000 crores and around 8000 small scale units with an investment of Rs 890 crores. The region generates employment for more than 200,000 people in various manufacturing and service sector.
Talking about the participation in the show, Dr Arora said, "The response has been fairly good this time. On the first day, we had 5,712 visitors and on the second it was 11,636."
Covering a total floor area of around 7,000 sq m, the show was participated by major companies including Acumen Measurements & Consultancy, Air Ventil India, Avante Global Services, Belz Instruments, Blue Star, Branson Ultrasonics, Capital Machineries, Competent Engineers, Just Machine Tools, Tachometric Controls among others.
Most of the companies which participated in the show were the ones who had their manufacturing units either in Gurgaon and Manesar. But there were others from cities like Bangalore, Ludhiana and others.
Speaking about his participation, O F Cherian of VIPA automation of Bangalore said, "The show provided us a good platform for brand building. My products are from Germany and Italy and I wanted to reach out to larger section of people, this show served my purpose well."
Cherian who is the MD of the Company and participate in 5-6 tradeshows in a year said that he was able to meet some of the prospective clients at the show. According to him, as most of the related industries gather under one roof, it helps better interaction and understanding of the latest trends in various industrial segments.
Jaibeer Kumar of Neelkamal Limited was however, less optimistic about the show. He said that there was not enough awareness about the show. "The show was not properly advertised in the media and there were no hoardings at the major junctures. So much so that some of the major companies in the area like Maruti and Hero Honda had no idea of the event," he said.
Jaibeer who received about 25 visitors a day said that the exhibition timing too were inconvenient. "Instead of 2 pm to 10 pm, the timing should have been 10 am to 8 pm. The odd timings kept many potential visitors away from the show," he claimed.
Another exhibitor, Manoj Singhal of Millennium Packaging Solution was on the other hand satisfied with the response he received at the show. “I received about 100 serious buyers in a day, which I think is a good number. There were some prestigious clients who came to enquire about our products. I think, participating in the show was worth its value," Singhal said.
