New Delhi, Nov 13 : The annual – SARAS-2007, India International Trade Fair (IITF) will kick off at Pragati Maidan here on Wednesday.

Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh will inaugurate the fortnight long Saras Mela, which is organized jointly by the Ministry and Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART).

The theme of Saras Mela this year is ‘Sari’.

The Ministry organises this Fair every year for facilitating the Special Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojna (SGSY) beneficiaries, rural artisans, craftsmen, self help groups (SHGs) and NGOs to exhibit and sell their products, and to provide them the opportunity for additional income and exposure on a large scale.

This exhibition-cum-sale fair under the brand name of SARAS will display a wide range of products manufactured by the rural artisans, craftsmen and beneficiaries of SHGs across the country. The mela also aims at creating a unique platform for developing linkages with customers and providing an opportunity to artisans to interact with the buyers directly.

Saras 2007 will exhibit over 350 stalls of DRDAs and NGOs from 21 States, displaying a variety of products prepared by rural artisans across the country.

As per the theme of this year, Craftsmen are displaying an array of ‘saris’ from different cultural regions of the country. Other attractive products on sale include bamboo artifacts, traditional and ayurvedic medicines, metalwork, woodwork, Madhubani paintings, terracotta, shawls, carpets, food products among others.

Lively cultural programmes by artists from different States will be another major attraction of this mega event, which will conclude on November 27.

Ever since its inception in 1980, this mega-event has evolved into Asia's largest show of its kind. It provides a window to the broad spectrum of industrial progress set in the global background. (ANI)