A preferred venue in the city for major exhibitions and conventions — Chennai Trade Centre (CTC) — is to be expanded, a project that will see the built-up space of the venue increase by 6,000 square metres.
Land is available for the expansion, after which the total built-up area of CTC will increase to 20,000 square metres, said Malay Shrivastava, executive director, India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) on Friday.
Addressing presspersons at CTC, ahead of the inauguration of the 29th edition of India International Leather Fair (IILF), a three-day event from Saturday, he said the Board of CTC had examined the expansion proposal.
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The facility, located in Nandambakkam, was set up in 2001 as a joint venture between ITPO (government of India) and Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (government of Tamil Nadu) and is spread over 25 acres. It comprises three exhibition halls and a convention centre.
The capacity utilisation of CTC is about 70 per cent and about three acres are available for expansion.
“Current expansion plan is framed considering the availability of land,” said Mr. Shrivastava when asked if more land would be sought from the State government.
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CTC is one of three such exhibition centres of ITPO; the massive and popular, also the oldest, Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, and another facility in Bangalore, being the other two.
Mr. Shrivastava said 385 companies, including 92 foreign ones, were participating in IILF this year, as against 439 last year.