India International Trade Fair 2020 to be held in redeveloped space of over 1 lakh sq m

The India International Trade Fair (IITF) would be back in its full form only in 2020. Over 1 lakh sq m of revamped space would be made available for the 40^th India International Trade Fair to be held next year, LC Goyal, Chairman and Managing Director, India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), told Moneycontrol.

The total project cost for the entire redevelopment work is Rs 3,437 crore out of which 65 percent has already been spent, he said.

"While the three redeveloped halls – A3, A4 and A5 would be ready this year they would not be complete in all respects before end of November. IITF 2019 will be held from November 14 to November 27 and therefore we would not be able to leverage the new exhibition halls this year," he said.

The theme of this year's edition of IITF is 'Ease of Doing Business'. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade is preparing the theme pavilion.

India jumped into the 63rd rank in the World Bank's latest Ease of Doing Business rankings, soaring 14 notches from last year, as the multilateral body endorsed a string of reforms—from the signature 'Make in India' initiative to insolvency resolutions — that the Narendra Modi government has launched over the last few years.

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IITF 2019 would be held in a space spread across more than 25000 sq m this year, he said.

"There would be 22,000 sq m of space made available for IITF 2019 that would comprise seven halls - 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 12 A like last year and 4,000 sq m of hangar space as was the case in the last two editions. In addition, we will be getting 3,000 sq m by shifting back the barricades. The area in the hangar would have a theme pavilion on 150 years of the Mahatma. Bookings have been completed for the pavilions. For the additional area bookings would be opened in a couple of days. Around 350 companies would be participating this year," he said.

Afghanistan will be the partner country and South Korea will be the focus country at IITF 2019.

"Afghanistan is bringing 40 firms, South Korea 11 and China 75 companies. Other countries that are participating include Thailand, Qatar, Bahrain, Turkey, UK, Malaysia, Taiwan, Bhutan," he said.

Bihar and Jharkhand will be the focus states. More than 175 companies from across the country would be participating at the fair.

"The format of IITF has been retained even though the scale is reduced. Next year the area available for IITF 2020 will be more than 100,000 sq m. The revamped halls that will be ready next year would include A3, A4, A5, A1, A2 and possibly A6. The total area should not be less than 1,25,000 sq m," he said.

The world-class convention centre is targeted to be completed by August-September next year.

"So far we have not received any bookings. The G20 Summit is likely to be held there in 2022. The Centre is spread across an area of 53,133 sq m and has an aggregate pax capacity of 11400," Goyal said.

Some events that are likely to be held at the convention center could include BIMSTEC, Asia Africa Summit, among others.

The IITF is being held on a smaller scale since the last two years due to ongoing redevelopment work at Pragati Maidan. The deadline for completion of the Pragati Maidan redevelopment project is now 2020. Work on the Rs 3,437 crore started in July 2017 and was scheduled to be completed last year.

Ban on construction activity during night time last year and the construction of a tunnel and an exhibition hall above it were some of the reasons behind the delay in the redevelopment project.

The revamped ITPO complex will have six exhibition halls, a convention center, basement parking, a 1.1 km tunnel connecting Purana Qila Road and Ring Road, six underpasses and a five-star hotel.

The total revamped built-up area would be more than 40 lakh sq ft.

vandana.ramnani@nw18.com