The 37th India International Trade Fair (IITF) came to a close on Nov 27, with huge crowds flocking to the various pavilions to indulge their inner shopaholics and foodies. However, the reduced space of the fair resulted in the number of visitors being capped to 60,000 on an average per day.
Last year during the trade fair, on an average, each day saw 1.5 lakh visitors. By close, around 5.5 lakh people had visited the fair that started on November 14, said Vikas Malhotra, general manager, corporate communications division at the India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO), which organises the trade fair every year.
This year, the fair had functioned out of approximately 52% of the usual space, as the state and centre pavilions, and many halls had been demolished to make way for redevelopment of Pragati Maidan, which includes an Integrated Exhibition cum Convention Centre (IECC) with an expanse of 1.2 lakh square metres. With the IECC expected to be completed before the 2019 IITF, LC Goyal, the chairman and managing director of ITPO, hoped that the 2019 trade fair would the largest trade fair.
Next year, the theme of the 38th IITF will be ‘Enterprises from Rural India.’
According to sources, hall number 18, which housed the foreign pavilions this year, will also be razed down. The ITPO will most probably function out of hall 7, as their offices at the venue are also set to be demolished soon.
“Halls 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 12A will continue to be available for the fair,” said Sanjay Vashistha, the deputy manager (PR) at ITPO.
This year, Assam won the best state pavilion award. Its pavilion was designed with betel leaves and bamboo, and highlighted the state’s trade in an attempt to answer ‘What is Assam for the world?
The theme of the fair was “Startup India Standup India”. Vietnam was partner country, while Kyrgyzstan was focus country for this edition of fair and Jharkhand participated as partner state in the event.
There were 3,000 exhibitors, including 222 companies from abroad, who participated and thirty-two of India’s states and union territories represented at IITF 2017.
