The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to redevelop Pragati Maidan at the heart of the national capital by setting up a world class Integrated Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre (IECC) there. The total cost of the project will be Rs.2,254 crore.
Pragati Maidan of India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) is a Mini Ratna Company under the Department of Commerce. The ITPO will utilise Rs.1,200 crore out of its free reserves towards funding of the project. It will raise institutional loan/soft loan/external aid/ land monetisation for the balance amount of Rs.1,054 crore with government guarantee for the amount of institutional loan, an official statement said.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi granted approval for the redevelopment of Pragati Maidan, which is envisaged in two phases.
Phase-1 redevelopment is expected to complete by May 2019 and will result in redevelopment of nearly 3.26 lakh sq.mtrs. After redevelopment, the exhibition space will be doubled to 1.19 lakh sq.mtr. as against 65,000 sq.mtr presently. Redevelopment will also include creation of a state-of-the-art Convention Center with seating capacity of 7,000 persons. For execution of this mega project, ITPO has assigned the work to National Buildings Construction Corporation Ltd. (NBCC) as a Project Management Consultant. ITPO would call for global bidding for selection of project executor(s) for construction of the project.
With India’s growing international profile and increasing presence at summit, ministerial and other levels, a need has been felt to have a modern world class Integrated Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre at New Delhi to provide an appropriate venue for international events, the statement said, adding that the present facilities are far short of international standards.
