Hyderabad's popular Numaish off to a colourful start

Hyderabad : The 83rd edition of All India Industrial Exhibition, popularly known as Numaish, got off to a colorful start with the New Year. Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy inaugurated the annual fair, which will continue for 45 days.

He noted that Hyderabad is known for Charminar, Tank Bund and Numaish and every year, traders from Kashmir to Kanyakumari participate in the trade fair.

He was all praise for the All India Industrial Exhibition Society for organising the event successfully every year and promised continued support from the government. The Chief Minister also assured full support to the educational institutions run by the Society. He said the government would support the proposal to upgrade Kamla Nehru Polytechnic as the engineering college.

Information Technology and Industry Minister D. Sridhar Babu, who is the honorary President of the Exhibition Society, and Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar were also present.

Sridhar Babu mentioned that 30,000 students are studying in educational institutions run by the Society.

Over 2,000 stalls have been set up on the sprawling Numaish Maidan in Nampally in the heart of the city for the annual exhibition. Every day the exhibition will be open for visitors from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. The entry ticket for the hugely popular trade fair remains unchanged at Rs 40 this year.

Numaish, which made its beginning in 1938, is known as one of the oldest and biggest trade fairs in the world.

Numaish-e-Masnuaat-e-Mulki, or Numaish in short, made a humble beginning in 1938 as an event to promote locally-produced goods. It was a group of graduates from Osmania University who came up with the idea of an exhibition to conduct an economic survey of the state.

The seventh Nizam of Hyderabad State, Mir Osman Ali Khan, inaugurated the first 'numaish'. Enthused by the good response, it was decided to make it an annual event and use the earnings to promote education.

Beginning with just 50 stalls and a capital of Rs.2.50, it has today evolved into one of the biggest industrial exhibitions in the country. Numaish could not be organised in 1947 and 1948 due to the turmoil in the aftermath of India's Independence.

With Hyderabad acceding to the Indian Union, the event bounced back in 1949. The exhibition could not be held in 2020 due to Covid-19 situation. This was only the third time in its history that it could not be held.

Traders from various parts of the country set up their stalls during the exhibition, which is visited by 40,000-50,000 people every day. The exhibitors put on sale handicrafts, toys, imitation jewellery, ladies apparel, crockery, electronic goods, and other consumer goods. Amusement space and various rides form an integral part of the exhibition. Popular food outlets set up their stalls offering mouth-watering kebabs, biryani, haleem and other dishes.