A colourful national silk expo, organised by the Silk Mark Organisation of India, to sell genuine silks to customers got under way in the Swarna Bharati indoor stadium here on Thursday. The expo, inaugurated by Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation Commissioner M.V Satyanarayana, will be open up to January 8.
Y. Srinivasa Rao, Assistant Director of Silk Mark Organisation of India (Hyderabad chapter), said silk is considered a holy fibre in the country and therefore purity and sanctity of silk were of utmost importance. Genuine silks were facing a threat in the market from fake silks and customers were often being taken for a ride and therefore Silk Mark, set up by the Central Silk Board, was organising such expos all over the country to offer real silks to the customers.
He said that in a span of hardly six years or so the organisation had enrolled 2,000 quality authorised users, making available 14.50 million silk mark labelled products in the consumer market. Silk Mark was bringing together fine silk products from far-flung weaving clusters across the country and offering an opportunity to silk manufacturers and traders to showcase and sell their products. The consumers were also getting their money's worth, he added.
Awareness walk
Fifty participants from 14 States were participating in the expo here, he said. Silk Mark had also organised a Silk Mark Awareness walk on the occasion. He said Vizag expo was the eleventh in the series and these expos were providing a great thrust to generic promotion of silk besides building up brand equity of Silk Mark, he said.
Fashion shows and cultural programmes were organised on the occasion.