By IANS
New Delhi : India’s biggest ever sports goods exhibition opened here Saturday with 54 exhibitors from six countries taking part in the three-day show.
Besides those from the host country, companies from Australia, Austria, Canada, China and Taiwan have put up stalls displaying sports goods, clothing and fitness equipment at the Sports/Fitness Active Leisure (SFAL) Expo 2007 at Pragati Maidan.
“This is the biggest sports exhibition ever held in India,” Pradeep Laroia, director Exhibitions India (EI), the organisers, told IANS.
“I have not seen a sports exhibition in India in which more than 20 companies have participated while a planned exhibition in Noida was cancelled recently due to insufficient numbers of participating companies,” he said.
Well-known Slazenger sports gear manufacturing company based in Britain also put up a stall through an Indian partner to declare that it has entered the Indian market officially Saturday.
“We are official licensee of Slazenger. We will be marketing their cricket gear and clothing here,” Navendu Jain of Slazenger India told IANS.
Some of the well-known Indian companies – mostly from Meerut, Jalandhar and Ludhiana, the centres of sports goods manufacturing – that have put up stalls are Vasts Sports, Enkay, Proline, Fit All and Lacoste.
Besides the sports good manufacturing companies, several Indian national sports federations – boxing, equestrian, football, gymnastics and yachting – are also taking part.
Although the India Trade Promotion Organisation had organised two sports goods exhibitions in the past, they were not very successful and had been discontinued.
One reason why so many exhibitors turned up for the EI-organised SFAL this year is that the organisers have given some incentives to them.
“We have provided one-way air tickets to buyers, distributors and traders,” said Satish Chandran, product manager EI.
“Each and every sector of sports industry is represented here. Among them are 22 foreign visitors (manufacturers), whose clients are already in India.”