India Stonemart 2009 – 5th International Stone Industry Exhibition – at Jaipur was organised by CDOS and FICCI during January 8-11, 2009. It was an overwhelming success accolades from all stakeholders of the dimensional stone industry, including quarry owners, processors, exporters, importers, tool & machinery manufacturers, builders, architects and civil engineers besides the general consumers.

In a time of great economic turmoil at the international level, it is a matter of no smallmeasure that India Stonemart 2009 stood its ground, and continued its journey towards providing a promotional platform to the stone industrial of India. It was a highly successful event both in terms of the quality of exhibits as well as the business conducted/enquiries generated.

While the first four editions of Stonemart opened new chapters in the growth of the Rajasthan stone industry by drawing the attention of the world stone industry to Rajasthan as a potential hub of stone trade in Asia; the fifth edition firmly established Stonemart as a prominent player in the international stone fair community.

CDOS, with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) as the co-organiser, Rajasthan State Industrial Development Corporation (RIICO) as the Principal Sponsor spared no efforts in providing all possible value to the exhibitors and visitors. The fair sponsors Classic Marble Group added new vistas to the visitor's experience.
Inaugural address
India Stonemart 2009 was inaugurated on 8th January 2009 by Mr. Ashok Gehlot, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Rajasthan. It was as if the wheel of Stonemart had made one full circle along its path as the first Stonemart in 2000 and the second one in 2003 were inaugurated by Mr. Ashok Gehlot during his first stint as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan. In his inaugural address Mr. Gehlot said that Stonemart has been instrumental not only in the development of the stone industry in Rajasthan but the entire India.

The Inaugural ceremony was also addressed by Mr. Shanti Dhariwal, Hon’ble Industries Minister, Government of Rajasthan, Dr. Amit Mitra, Secretary General, FICCI, Mr. Ashok Sampatram, Principal Secretary Industries and Mr. Ashok Dhoot, Vice Chairman, CDOS. Followed by his address, Mr. Ashok Gehlot formally headed the ribbon cutting ceremony to open the fair to stone community. Later the dignitaries visited and showed keen interest in various pavilions at the fair.

The exhibitors at India Stonemart represented a fair mix of the entire stone industry showcasing the entire range of products and services covering the stone sector. The fair witnessed latest machinery and tools in the field of quarrying, processing and stone artwork besides numerous varieties of dimensional stones in different hues, colours and textures. It would be apt to say that this mega exhibition depicted many new facets of the stone industry.

In a total of 319 exhibitors, India Stonemart 2009 had 48 exhibitor companies from abroad and 271 exhibitors from India. As a measure of the widespread national representation at the event, only 133 of the exhibitors were from Rajasthan state. Exhibitor companies came from China, Italy, Oman, Russia, Spain, Turkey and the UK, with China and Turkey participating through official country pavillions. A total of thirteen states participated in the exhibition, viz. Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Rajasthan. Official state pavillions of Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa and Haryana were the centres of attraction.

Considering the fact that the entire infrastructure for Stonemart is temporary, organizers provided facilities and services of international standards, which was appreciated by exhibitors as well as visitors.

Memorable cultural evenings, which included traditional Rajasthani dance and music programme through RTDC, was also organized during the fair period by the organisers for the exhibitors and participants so as to provide them a feel of rich Rajasthani traditions and culture.

The valedictory ceremony of India Stonemart 2009 was chaired by Mr. D.C.Samant,Chief Secretary, Government of Rajasthan., wherein exhibitors were awarded for display at the exhibition across various categories as per indoor/ outdoor and product range