It was a warm Kolkata morning of November 18, 2010, and the venue, Science City Grounds. The occasion was the inauguration ceremony of Engeetech 2010, Kolkata, an International Engineering, Industrial Products and Machinery Expo & Symposium, IPFonline Limited's first foray in organising an industrial exhibition. BACE Expo 2010, an exhibition building materials, architectural products and construction equipment was the concurrent event. But good ole Murphy of the laws fame was lurking around, and everything that could go wrong, did. An air conditioning unit that refused to function to capacity ensured that the already warm morning heated up further.

Amidst the chaos the inaugural ceremony was held in the presence of dignitaries invited for the occasion led by two ministers from the Government of West Bengal: Nirupam Sen, Minister-in-Charge Commerce and Industries, and Manabendra Mukherjee, Minister-in-Charge of Micro and Small Scale Enterprises and Textiles. The welcome address was delivered by Sandipan Chakravortty, President, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the co-sponsors of the event. Also present on the occasion were Dipankar Mukhopadhyay, Additional Chief Secretary, Commerce and Industries, Dr Subrata Gupta, Managing Director, West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation Ltd, and Dr Anup Chanda, Additional Chief Secretary, Micro and Small Scale Enterprises and Textiles. P Roy, Director General, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, proposed the vote of thanks.

Prior to the event, commenting on the initiative, Linus Lobo, CEO, IPFonline Limited had explained the rationale in a press statement. "We are presently witnessing a major growth in terms of infrastructure development in Eastern India and Kolkata as a gateway to the North-East serves as a key point for all retail and commercial activities. The major objective behind organising ENGEETECH and BACE is to promote the potential opportunities present in East India in engineering and construction sector and encourage participation of companies from across India and abroad to explore business opportunities in the Eastern market. Moreover the expositions will also unleash the best of technological innovation which the engineering and construction eastern market can use much to its advantage," said Lobo.

By the end of Day 1, most of the problems were sorted out and the exhibition started in earnest. The number of visitors on the first day was disappointing. But Day 2 began on a promising note and steady treacle of visitors. For Kolkata, Engeetech was a different experience as among the exhibitors was a fairly good selection of companies representing machine tools and accessories, hydraulics and pneumatics, material handling and storage systems, pumps and valves, test and measuring instruments, and construction and mining equipment. The highlight of the event was a 45-member delegation from Bangladesh and a "Buyer-Seller" organised by the Engineering Export Promotion Council of India (EEPC). The delegates were members of two leading the Bangladesh Engineering Industry Owners Association (BEIOA) and Bangladesh Electrical Merchandise Manufacturers Association (BEMMA).

"Having participated in an exhibition after a long gap of 15 years, we were fairly satisfied with the visitor footfall. Of course we'll have to wait for a few days/months to understand whether these visits serve our cause of participation. There are a few points, however, which would require an attention from you during the time of your next exhibition," said Shayak Gupta, Director Levcon Controls Pvt Ltd. Points noted, Mr Gupta. "Engeetech 2010 was a very good effort, well organised and we have got very good exposure for our products. We expect this fair to gain momentum and a much more wider participation from various industries," said Subroto Jana, speaking for Vikrant Special Machines Pvt Ltd, another participant.

The visitors' perspective was neatly captured by N Mukherjee, Director, Vission Automation Pvt Ltd, an integrator of Schneider Electric. "It was a good experience to be at the exhibition as a visitor.

The arrangements of the stalls were good, spacious and comfortable. All the participants where technically competent and exhibited some new generation products with high technical capability. Overall it was very nice event and a supporting tool to today's business," wrote Mr Mukherjee in a note sent via email to the organisers.

For the Bangladesh delegation, it was a successful visit. "In an assessment by delegation team, this is a unique event for promotion for cooperation between two countries in the light engineering sector. Our members got first hand information on much needed metal product manufacturing technology. In meetings with various parties, a new window of opportunities has opened for future cooperation for entrepreneurs of the two countries. The delegation team had a meeting with Inductotherm India Ltd about setting up of a modern induction furnace in Bangladesh. Through this show, we could network with our Indian counterparts and this could benefit entrepreneurs of both countries. We are also looking for similar delegation from EEPC India to visit BIET 2011 at Dhaka and take this process further," said Abdur Razzaque, President, Bangladesh Engineering Industry Owners' Association.

There was a letter from the Bangladesh Electrical Merchandise Manufacturers Association, the other association that had send delegates too.

"Prior to our visit to Engeetech fair in Kolkata, we had set two broad objectives, i.e., access to information on modern technology and finding joint-venture partners.

We have acquired some knowledge and understanding regarding developments of technology and modern manufacturing processes for engineering industries, which will be very much effective and helpful for the light engineering sector of Bangladesh," said Mr Mamunur Rashid Khan, Proprietor of Delta Electrical Industries, a member of BEMMA. As the event concluded on 21st November with visitors thronging the venue till late evening, there was a sense of satisfaction among most participants. Many expressed the desire to return next year, some after assessing the impact from visitors' interaction in course for the next few weeks. And the event over, the Kolkata weather too turned cooler after all the heat and excitement spread over four days.