Cabinet clears decks for convention centre in Delhi

The Union cabinet on Wednesday gave approval for the transfer of 89.72 hectares of land to the department of industrial policy and promotion for setting up a world-class convention centre at Sector 25 in Dwarka here.

The project will be developed on a public-private partnership basis.

"The land ownership, being given at a nominal cost of Re.1, will vest in and remain with the department for the state-of-the-art exhibition-cum-convention centre," an official said.

The proposed centre will have facilities like exhibition, convention and banquet halls, auditoria, arena, financial centre, restaurants, food and beverage outlets and retail services.

"India lacks an integrated world-class facility for global exhibition-cum-convention operators in terms of space, facilities, transportation linkages etc. Only a few centres in terms of organised space are available in the country," the official said.

The Pragati Maidan here is the only organised large space used for exhibitions for years, but faces severe capacity and traffic constraints and hence great inconvenience to citizens and visitors.

"A big and constant demand for exhibitions and related activities puts immense pressure on the existing facilities, resulting in lesser time for maintenance and maintenance of international standards," the official said.