Union Minister of Textiles, Shankersinh Vaghela, inaugurated the exhibition on November 15. At the inaugural of this year’s show, the Union Minister of Textiles Shankersinh Vaghela in his inaugural speech said, “Today INDIA ITME has gained a reputation of being an event where almost all major textile machinery manufacturers participate providing an important benchmark in the annals of the international textile machinery industry. Vaghela further added that this expo is being held under the shadow of the global economic downturn, a  crises that has swept across global markets.

He urged the Indian textile industry at INDIA ITME to bide its time and wait and hope for the best as it battles with the prospects of a global economic slowdown. The minister assured the Indian textile industry that India will not worry of recession and that the government will always support the Textile Industry.

In the welcome speech, Mr. Sanjay Jayavarthanavelu, Chairman, India ITME Society, complemented Mr. Shankersinh Vaghela, Union Minister of Textiles for his proactiveness and impetus given to the processof growth and development of the Indian Textile Industry.

He further added that, “India ITME 2008 is being held under the shadow of global economic downturn. The crisis that has swept across the global markets has essentially meant that bulk of new investments in the global textile industry is going to get deferred. A contraction in global market size would mean a recession of a grand size setting in. But then every coin has another side and so does this recession. World-wide population increase and the demand for textile products remain steady although the purchasing power may go down.”

The exhibition centre was equipped with the facilities for the exhibitors and the business visitors. It covered a total space of 45,000 sq. mtrs, consisting of 3 air conditioned halls, each having its own convention centres and conference rooms along with food courts, office space, protocol lounges, and all other required infrastructure. The New Bangalore Airport was commissioned and it was about 38 kms from the exhibition complex.

The Travel Corporation of India were appointed as the travel and hotel accommodation agent for the exhibition to render assistance to the exhibitors and visitors. The Society arranged special buses from key points of the city to the exhibition complex and back during the exhibition days. The exhibition promoted technological developments in the field of textile production right from the stage of making fibres till garment manufacturing. It displayed latest products and technology, with all major textile engineering units, and manufactures participating from all across the globe.

However, there were also some hiccups leading to the event at Bangalore including lack of infrastructure. Hotels and accommodation facilities available for the visitors were limited owing to the size of the city, which led to some discomfort for visitors attending the Expo.

Again, the Bangalore airport being situated on the outskirts of the city made it cumbersome for people to commute during the exhibition which raised doubts among the exhibitors on hosting visitors of more than a million for a mega expo like INDIA ITME in the future. Few unexpected incidents like the one that happened in halls where basic facilities like unleveled ground inadequate lighting were also missing, did rancor displeasure among the participants which however were rectified by the committee. The exhibitors of upper levels of Hall-3 were highly disappointed with their obscure placements which did not not encourge appropriate visitor traffic to the farthest corner of the exhibition.

Exhibitors Response

The responses received from textile machinery and component manufacturers worldwide was good drawing participants from more than 30 overseas countries. India ITME 2008 was the largest exhibitions of its kind in the region.

It showcased the latest exhibits and was a catalyst for the modernization, expansion and re-equipment of the textile units.

Sanjay Jayavarthanavelu, Chairman, India ITME Society said, “This world class exhibition on textile machinery and accessories has gained in magnitude and prominence over the years.

All leading manufacturers of textile machinery and components from across the world booked space in the exhibition and show their latest technology machinery. The participants include prominent manufacturers of textile machinery and components from Germany, Switzerland, Italy, France, UK, USA, China, Turkey, Brazil and other parts of the globe besides the Indian manufacturers.” The total number of exhibitors were about 750, of which Indian constitutes 440 and foreign 310. Exhibitors like Oerlikon, LMW, Rieter, Voltas, Muratec, Picanol, ITEMA Group, ATE received resonably good attention. Visitors were inquisitive on the technology and process on the display.

Prominent Indian manufacturers showed their latest technology. These were latest spinning machinery, including compact spinning of LMW, blowroom and other machinery from TRUMAC, Air Jet loom, Rapier loom of Alidhra Weavetech, Rapier loom of Dynamic, Laxmi Textile Stores, Draw texturising of Himson, Aalidhra, Warping and sizing machinery of Jupiter, Amritlakshmi, sectional warping of Prashant Gamatex, Rabatex, processing machinery of Harish textile enterprises, Dhall, Krsna etc. besides important spares and accessories.

Similarly, latest spinning machinery including compact spinning of Rieter, Auto Coner from Murata, Japan and Savio, Italy, spinning and weaving machinery from Toyota, Japan, Shuttleless Rapier loom of Dornier, Smit, Sultex, Picanol; processing and finishing from Oerlikon, Then, Thies etc. were showcased. India and countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia and Thailand are prominent markets for manufacturers of textile machinery and components.

Low visitor turnout

The visitor turnout was not up to the expectations of the exhibitors and the organisers. The low turnout of the visitors could be attributed to the global recessionary trends and the problems faced by the Indian textile industry which did not encourage enthusiatic participation from the Indian textile industry as expected. 

The shift of location from Mumbai in 2004 to Bangalore also did not help the visitor participation either. The cost of participation became exhorbitantly high especially for the visitors from the Northern India.  Mumbai is a convenient city easily frequented by the visitors from the North.  In Bangalore the  cost of air travel and the hotel accomodation practically doubled as compared with Mumbai. However, according to Mr. Radhakrishnan, General Secretary, India ITME Society, the organisers of ITME India, 

 Mumbai could not longer cater to the increased requirements of ITME India as there is no venue such as Bangalore Exhibition Centre that is technically sound for such a large exhibition.  This argument was disputed by several smaller participants who were quite disappointed with the poor visitor turnout.

ITME India  was an opportunity for the exhibitors to showcase their textile textile machinery with technological advancement to the Indian textile industry. The exhibition would have been a greater success at a different time and  at a more accesible venue for the visitors.