Bloom Bazaar, an initiative of Investment & Development Authority of Nagaland (IDAN), will begin on Friday at The Heritage, Kohima. Informing this during a press conference at the venue of the bazaar, advisor IDAN, Abu Metha, said the bazaar was specifically designed to boost floriculture market and florists and would be held every Friday and Saturday for the next 30 weeks.
Metha informed that the bazaar will be formally launched by Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio on Saturday.
Sharing his observation, Metha said since the floriculture sector had still been in the rear seat in the State, the initiative was to boost the sector.
He informed that IDAN had held several deliberations with stakeholders including the Nagaland Flower Growers Society, Women Entrepreneurs Nagaland Network (WENN), Confederation of Commerce and Industries and Business Association of Nagaland, prior to coming up with the idea to host the event.
He said the flower industry in Nagaland was booming which was rightly aided by the people’s love for flowers. He pointed out most Naga homes nurture plants and flowers, making it an inherent quality of the Nagas.
He expressed optimism that Nagaland has a huge scope for the industry to progress and that the government would extend support to enhance and improve the sector.
He said the concept of the bazaar was to introduce an organised system to promote floriculture and the weekend bazaar would be open on Fridays and Saturdays from 12 p.m. till 7 p.m.
Metha added that more than just flowers, the marketplace would also host other local entrepreneurs and musicians, promising good food, jewelleries, crafts, art and music.
He disclosed that around 15 government departments in the agri and allied sectors, Industries & Commerce, Bamboo and Honey Missions etc would be accommodated at the marketplace.
A total of 45 stalls will be put up including recreational spaces and games for children would also be available at the marketplace, Metha said.
To promote green-preneurs, Metha said the state government will be providing a floriculture scheme through which these entrepreneurs could avail loans with low interest rates.
He hoped that through the scheme, green-preneurs would upscale their floriculture setup and help boost local economy as well.
Under this initiative, Metha said, financial institutions including Bank of Baroda, North East Small Finance Bank and Nagaland Rural Bank would facilitate the loans. He hoped that flowers grown in Nagaland would someday make its mark at national and international markets.
He said the government would also find out ways to import best quality seeds that could be grown in the state and capacity building programmes would also be conducted as well.
As per IDAN’s economic impact study, he said that the weekend marketplace was estimated to provide 450 weekend employment and around 300 permanent employments as well.
Metha hoped that the event would celebrate the Naga way of life and showcase the best of the state to the outside world.
Home delivery of flowers and plants within the city and delivery outside the city and state would also be available during the market hours, he informed.
Answering to a query on the budget for the bazaar by the government, Metha informed that a total of Rs. 48 lakhs had been sanctioned for the whole duration.
While there will be free entry to the bazaar during the launching week and on subsequent weekends, an amount of Rs. 30 would be charged for adults as entry fee and Rs. 10 for children.