Germans, Chinese question Plastindia move to Gujarat

TAIPEI, TAIWAN — Two major international partners of the Plastindia trade show have raised serious concerns about the show organizer's decision to move it to another region of India less than five months before the event.

The partners warn that the decision could lead to financial losses, logistical problems and broken contracts.

In letters obtained by Plastics News, both Messe Düsseldorf in Germany and Adsale Exhibition Services Ltd. in Hong Kong sharply questioned the move. The groups organize some of the largest delegations of overseas companies to the Indian fair and are its primary international partners.

Plastindia Foundation announced Sept. 27 that it would move the Plastindia show from the Pragati Maidan fairgrounds in New Delhi, which it says is too old and lacks adequate support like power supply, to a new exhibition center in the western Indian state of Gujarat.

The fair is scheduled for Feb. 5-10, and is expected to attract more than 100,000 visitors. It's the main entry point for many foreign firms in India's plastics market.

Messe Düsseldorf executives said in its Sept. 15 letter that it was a “very big surprise” to learn that PIF was considering moving the event.

The Messe, which runs the K Fair, the world's largest plastics fair, said it had signed contracts for a delegation of 171 overseas exhibitors that it was organizing.

“We do understand there must be tremendous pressure from the government of Gujarat, but at this time, mid of September with only four months to go till Plastindia 2015 opens its doors, it seems really impossible to shift the venue without running into a loss,” said the letter, which is signed by Messe Division Director Erhard Wienkamp and Gaby Schreiber, in the company's exhibition management department.

They wrote that Messe Düsseldorf has “mobilized” country pavilions from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Great Britain, France and Italy, and it said that government subsidies for those exhibitors could be jeopardized.

“The subsidies were decided on by the [responsible] governments, only after we announced that Plastindia 2015 will be in New Delhi,” it said. “Please take into consideration that the subsidies for the Country Pavilions can be cancelled at any time if important contents from the contract change.”

The German group also said that exhibitors made plans for booth sizes and machinery they would bring based on plans for the show to be in New Delhi.

Officials from the Plastindia Foundation, which is based in Mumbai, announced the change of venue at a public event Sept. 27 at the Taipei Plas trade show in Taiwan, where they were meeting with potential Taiwanese exhibitors.

PIF officials said they had decided on Sept. 19 to move the event to Gujarat, to the Mahatma Mandir fairgrounds in Gandhinagar, near the city of Ahmedabad.

It's the latest in series of back and forth decisions about the location. The Foundation first decided in May 2013 to move to Gujarat, but after concerns that the exhibition center would not be ready, officials changed their minds and decided in November 2013 to remain in Delhi.

But PIF leaders said at the Taipei event that they are moving now to Gujarat because construction has proceeded quickly, and they expressed confidence that the grounds can be ready for their show.

“If the government and the Plastindia Foundation, they stick to it and they want to have it, then every stone can be unturned and we will be very successful,” said Pradip Nayyar, a member of Plastindia Foundation's management committee and president of the Kolkata-based Indian Plastics Federation.

But the head of Adsale in Hong Kong questioned whether it's too late.

“It is a general knowledge to the professionals in the exhibition industry, [that a] successful international exhibition would need to be prepared properly 18 months or more in advance,” said Adsale Chairman Stanley Chu, in a Sept. 16 letter to the PIF. “Similarly, it is impossible for a woman to give birth to a healthy baby in five months.”

Adsale operates the annual Chinaplas trade fair, which attracted 130,000 visitors this year to Shanghai.

“We have signed space contracts with close to a hundred Chinese exhibitors on behalf of Plastindia Foundation,” he wrote. “If there is a move of venue to the State of Gujarat, it would represent a material breach of contract. Both Adsale and Plastindia Foundation will be subjected to legal claims and disputes.”

“We shall face an exodus of exhibitors and claims for refund and compensation,” Chu wrote, adding that Adsale “learnt with great surprise” that PIF was considering the move.

Nayyar said Plastindia was waiting for a report from Messe Düsseldorf after its members inspected the Gujarat fairgrounds in recent days.

He said the PIF board anticipated having a meeting in early October where it would put the “official stamp” on the decision to move the fair.

Pictures of the fairgrounds provided to Plastics News by Plastindia, taken Sept. 20, indicate that some of the halls were still under construction.

Executives with both Adsale and Messe Düsseldorf made only brief comments when reached by telephone Sept. 28 and 29, saying that they had yet to receive any official written notification about a change from Plastindia Foundation. They also said that discussions were ongoing between many involved parties, including exhibitors.

Adsale General Manager Ada Leung, who met with Plastindia officials at the Taipei show, said in a written statement that “the decision to change venue four months before [the] show has caused much confusion to exhibitors who have been expecting the show to be held in New Delhi.”

Schreiber said Messe Düsseldorf would be discussing internally and with partners in the next few days.

The letters were provided anonymously to Plastics News, and copied to 146 other email addresses.

Many of the other recipients appeared to belong to Indian plastics companies. The email sender declined to identify themselves to Plastics News.

Messe Düsseldorf confirmed that its letter was authentic. Adsale and PIF did not specifically confirm them, but they did not dispute them, and Nayyar acknowledged that both the German and Chinese groups had sent letters to PIF.