National Traders’ Conference and Bhamashah Felicitation Ceremony Held on 45th Foundation Day of Bharatiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal

New Delhi, August 9, 2026: A grand National Traders’ Conference and Bhamashah Felicitation Ceremony was organised at the Constitution Club of India, New Delhi, to mark the 45th Foundation Day of the Bharatiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal (BUVM). The programme was presided over by the organisation’s National President, Babulal Gupta (Rajasthan), and was effectively conducted by National Senior General Secretary Mukund Mishra (Uttar Pradesh).
Around 1,000 trader representatives from 24 states and two Union Territories participated in the conference, demonstrating the unity, organisational strength and national coordination of the trading community.
Union Minister for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal was the Chief Guest at the event. He said that promoting trade and business is essential to achieving the goal of a developed India. He emphasised that accelerating trade and commerce is necessary to expand the size of the country’s economy. He assured the traders that the government would take necessary steps to address their concerns on issues related to GST, online trade and other matters concerning the business community.
Durg Lok Sabha MP Vijay Baghel, Rajya Sabha MP Sadhna Singh, former MP and Senior Vice President of the Uttar Pradesh Udyog Vyapar Mandal Bhairav Prasad Mishra, along with several other public representatives and senior trade leaders, were present at the event.
Among the national and state office-bearers and representatives present were Mohan Gurnani and Kishor Bhai Kharawala from Maharashtra; Taraknath Trivedi from West Bengal; Rajpurohit and Anurag Singla from Karnataka; Prakash Mishra from Uttarakhand; Hemant Gupta, Prem Arora and Rakesh Yadav from Delhi; Sujit Roy from Tripura; Prahlad Khandelwal from Odisha; Ashok Modi from Chhattisgarh; Gopal Agarwal and Rajesh Jain from Madhya Pradesh; Raju Apsara from Kerala; Soundarya Rajan from Tamil Nadu; Vijaylaxmi Gupta and Bhanu from Haryana; Ranjan Agarwal and Pyarelal Seth from Punjab; Charanjit Singh and Sanjeev from Chandigarh; and Rajendra Prasad Gupta, Dilip Seth, Sunil Pandey and Ashok Kansal from Uttar Pradesh, among several other senior office-bearers and trader representatives.
The conference called for increasing the target from 500 to 1,000 districts to promote local products, local trade and local tourism and advance the vision of ‘Local for Global’. National President Shri Babulal Gupta said that promoting local production, trade and tourism would strengthen employment and economic activity in districts and help connect traditional skills and crafts from villages with global markets.
The conference also discussed several key issues, including the need for a clear and effective regulatory framework for online trade, protection of small and traditional traders, addressing the unequal competition arising from e-commerce and mall culture, strengthening MSMEs, promoting the concept of “Investment in the District, for the District”, and establishing trader assistance groups in every district.
Several other major demands concerning the trading community were also discussed, including One Nation–One Mandi Tax, limiting mandi cess to 0.50 per cent, an amnesty scheme for the resolution of GST and old VAT cases, relief from GST on rented shops and houses, reduction in interest on delayed GST payments, and simplification of FSSAI regulations. It was decided that detailed proposals on these issues would be submitted to the Central Government.
Speakers recalled that late Shyam Bihari Mishra, the founder of the Bharatiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal, who was a four-time Member of Parliament and a prominent leader of the traders’ movement, had initiated the movement for trader unity and protection of traders’ interests nearly 45 years ago. They said that the movement has today evolved into a strong national organisation. All state, district and city-level units of the organisation continue to work towards protecting and strengthening the interests of the trading community in line with the same vision.
National President Babulal Gupta congratulated the various state units of the organisation for successfully conducting traders’ conferences and training programmes across the country. He said that the Bharatiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal has emerged as a strong national voice for the trading community from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.
The National President congratulated and extended his best wishes to the entire Delhi Pradesh team of the Bharatiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal for successfully organising the event. He also expressed special gratitude to the Federation of All India Food Grain Dealers Association for its important support as a partner organisation in the event.
At the conclusion of the programme, National President Babulal Gupta announced that a “Local to Global National Trade Conference” would be organised at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, in January 2027. The conference will aim to provide fresh impetus at the national level to youth entrepreneurship, local trade, local production, local tourism and the “One City–One Product” initiative.