At the India Stonemart 2003 , the exhibitors were all smiles, with
brisk business for the exhibitors, both domestic and foreign.
``We
sold a `Dancing Pillar' to a UK Based buyer by the name of Pinks Hill
Worldwide on the first day,'' says Ratnesh Kashyap, Managing Director
of SRSL International Pvt. Ltd. The Granite `Dancing Pillars', which
are unique in the sense that they do not use any mechanical or
electrical help and rotate entirely by a controlled water pressure,
were sold for a sum of $ 7500 per pillar. SRSL, which is a one-stop
supermarket of natural stones and artifacts, was founded in 1997 and
today offers a range of stone landscaping services both in terms of
projects as well as turnkey assignment. ``What is much more heartening
is the way the Stonemart excels in overall management in terms of
the,'' says Kashyap, whose business volume at Stonemart was in excess
of Rs 20 lakh.
The
machine exhibitors are equally upbeat - ``All the three machines we had
brought here are sold,'' says Ashok Karwa, Managing Director -
Crossland Earth Movers, authorized dealers for BEML machines. They had
exhibited a dozer and two 30 - ton hydraulic excavators at India
Stonemart 2003. As enthused is Rishi Raj Kishore at Tata Hitachi, who
felt that coming to the expo has been very useful for them.
The
second day of the `Buyer Seller Meet' at Stonemart 2003 saw a very
enthusiastic response with delegations from Germany, Canada, China,
USA, Russia, Nigeria, Turkey and the UAE coming in today. Over 120 one
- to - one business meeting were held, which were scheduled on the
basis of matching business interests. Various business proposals
related to export of marble, granite, slate, sandstone, handicrafts and
artifacts were on the agenda here. These discussions resulted in eight
collaborations worth US $ three million, which were signed here. More
than 15 more agreements are in the final stages of being signed, which
are mainly in the fields of market access, equipment purchase etc.
The
Indo - Italian Co - Operation Programme, a joint effort between the
Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Government of India, is present
at Stonemart to promote it's `Italian Line of Credit'. ``These are
loans for selected sectors like Leather, Electronics, Plastics,
Mechanical, Automobile Components and highly specialized sectors like
Marble and Granite Processing and extraction,'' said Sunil Bali, Senior
Branch Manager - The National Small Industries Corporation Ltd.
Business has been good for them here - They have generated over 25
serious inquiries worth approximately Rs 25 Crores. |
