Plastic bags rule at IITF

Even though it was made clear that the fair will be an eco-friendly one this time, owners of foreign stalls have been handing out polybags freely

Plastic bags rule at IITF

Even though it was made clear that the fair will be an eco-friendly one this time, owners of foreign stalls have been handing out polybags freely

Though the 31st India International Trade Fair (IITF) kicked off on a positive and eco-friendly note, with the officials pledging not to use polythene bags this year, interestingly, Hall number 18, which serves most of the foreign countries, is not going by the rules.

Bag it! Plastic bags in use at Hall no. 18 at the India International Trade
Fair on Tuesday. PIC/imtiyaz khan

Visitors coming to see China, Afghanistan, South Africa, Thailand etc, have been going out with hands full of plastic bags, while, on the other hand, people coming from the state pavilion are carrying paper as well as jute bags. The foreign stalls in the pavilion are openly using polythene bags for giving their goods to the visitors.

Paper or plastic?
"We have always been keeping the things in polythene bags after selling them. We were not aware about the fact that the fair is completely eco-friendly this time. If we would have known that, we would have definitely followed the rules," said Kei-fou-Chang, one of the stall owners at the China pavilion at IITF. Surprisingly, the other pavilions in the fair, such as Haryana, Punjab, and Maharashtra, among others, have been using eco-friendly for their goods.

"Everyone knows that the use of polythene bags is banned in the city. We too believe in an eco-friendly approach. But, this is really strange that foreign countries, being cleaner than Delhi, are not considering the fact," said Rahul Khurana, one of the stall owners at Delhi Pavilion.

It was announced by the officials at the inaugural ceremony of IITF that no polythene bags will be used this year in the trade fair. There were questions about the people overcharging the public, with a single bottle of mineral water being over-priced from Rs 15 to Rs 20. But the problem has not been solved yet. "They are charging more for a water bottle, a cold drink and, in fact, a simple biscuit pack which sells at Rs 5 in the market, is sold at Rs 30 here," said Poonam Chawla, one of the visitors at IITF.

Would you buy a sock-knitting machine for Rs 1.6 lakh?
Here's an interesting fact for visitors at the India International Trade Fair (IITF) this year. The stall from China at the trade fair has a sock-knitting machine here worth 3,200 US dollars, which comes to around Rs 1,60,000 in Indian currency. Named 602AB, it is a fully computerised socks-knitting machine.

It will enable you to knit colourful socks in few minutes. A highly-technical machine, it has a multi-colour display with a touchpad. "This is new to Indian markets. Last year, we came with a similar machine, but it had some flaws in it, but this machine is a more developed version. We are expecting a huge sale this year in the Indian market," said Summer Cai, trading specialist at one of the stalls at IITF.