Gurgaon set to take Trade Fair away from Pragati Maidan

Manesar's Rs 2K-cr answer to Delhi's Pragati Maidan

GURGAON: Manesar is set to get an exhibition and convention center twice as big as Delhis Pragati Maidan and if HSIIDC officials are to be believed, Delhis flagship India International Trade Fair and other such events may be shifted to the new venue.

The project has already made some headway with the design and structural model of the convention centre getting a clearance from the government. The state and the centre have given us the go-ahead. We have the models and maps in place. A budget of Rs 2,000 crore has been sanctioned for the project, said Rajiv Arora, managing director of HSIIDC.

The convention centre will be spread across 300 acres and Manesar was preferred over other possible destinations in NCR because of its improving connectivity with both Delhi and Gurgaon.

Land is being acquired for the project right beside the KMP Expressway. We have earmarked 300 acres right next to Pachgaon chowk, said Dinesh Chauhan, Senior Town Planner, HSIIDC.

Chauhan added that many events like the India International Trade Fair could be shifted from Pragati Maidan to the new convention center. There are several shortcomings with Pragati Maidan, like parking troubles etc, he said. With several convention and exhibition halls, the centre will also have a hotel in the premises for accommodating guests and visitors.

Sources said that land acquisition was going smooth and by April all formalities in this regard are expected to be over. By mid-2011 we are planning to begin construction work. The best-use study of the area is already underway. After which we will go ahead with the rest of the procedure, said an official.

Read more: Manesar's Rs 2K-cr answer to Delhi's Pragati Maidan – The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/Manesars-Rs-2K-cr-answer-to-Delhis-Pragati-Maidan/articleshow/7203551.cms#ixzz19rIenUPf

Update 1 Dec 10

You have heard it right. The India International Trade Fair could move to Gurgaon if the commerce ministry and the Haryana government are to be believed. The Exhibition-cum Convention Centre (ECC) at Panchgaon Chowk, NH-8, could be the venue for the biggest trade show of Asia in 2014 (below: an artists impression of the centre). To come up at the cost of Rs 2,500 crore, the consortium of Jurong-KPMG- DTZ – ESRI, the consultants hired for a pre-feasibility study, in their report submitted two weeks ago, asserted that shifting of the entire business of Pragati Maidan to this new facility will contribute a lot to its success. The consultants had also suggested creation of a facility for over an area of 250 acres, one of the three early bird projects of Delhi.

The consultants have been further advised to submit a report on the Institutional Framework/Ownership Model for the project involving the government of India and government of Haryana. The International Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO) had also identified the area for creation of such a facility for the purpose of holding IITF. The DMIC consultants had suggested eight different locations for the project and zeroed in on the Panchgaon Chowk site in Gurgaon, at the junction of National Highway-8 and KMP Expressway, as the most suitable for the ECC project, Rajiv Arora, the managing director of HSIIDC, said while confirming the development. The plan will be implemented in two phases Phase-I, over 150 acres, and Phase-II, over the remaining 100 acres. The facilities to be created at the Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre include an exhibition space, convention centre for 6,000 people, retail arcade and hotels.

The government is also establishing a dedicated freight corridor between Delhi and Mumbai, with terminals at Dadri in the National Capital Region of Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru Port near Mumbai. The corridor, covering a length of around 1483 kilometres, will pass through Uttar Pradesh, National Capital Territory of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra. In order to tap the immense opportunities likely to be thrown open by the corridor, a band of 150 to 200 kilometres around its sides is being developed as the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC). The vision for the development of DMIC is to create base in this band with globally competitive environment and state-of-the-art infrastructure to activate regional commerce and enhance foreign investments. The state government has designated HSIIDC as the nodal agency for the DMIC projects in the state.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/Gurgaon-the-new-trade-fair-venue/articleshow/7018545.cms