DDA Transfers Land for Dwarka Exhibition-Cum-Convention Centre

NEW DELHI:
The development of the proposed state-of-the-art Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre (ECC) at Dwarka in New Delhi will soon get underway with the Ministry of Urban Development and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) transferring land for the project.
The facility is designed to be a world-class platform for trade and business exchanges and will enable India to capture a bigger share of the global MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events) market currently worth an estimated US $280 billion. The Delhi Mumbai Indian Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC) is the knowledge partner for the project. A Special Purpose Vehicle will soon be established by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) to take the project forward.
The ECC will be set up over a nearly 90 hectare area in Sector 25, Dwarka, with exhibition halls, convention centers, banquet halls, an arena, a financial centre, hotels, food & beverage (F&B) outlets, commercial and retail services and common internal infrastructure facilities. To be built at an estimated cost of Rs 27,000 crore, the project will have 2,00,000 sq.m of exhibition space; 60,000 sq.m of convention and meeting space; a 20,000 capacity multipurpose arena , 3,500 hotel rooms , retails and commercial space.
A high-level project steering committee constituted to oversee the ECC planning, gave its approval to the implementation model.
“The growing global MICE market, which supports around 400,000 conferences and exhibitions worldwide, is a vast untapped resource for our economy. With this project, we hope to close this gap, capitalize on this huge market and drive India’s industry, commerce, trade and tourism” said Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary, DIPP.
Currently India’s share of the Asian MICE market is just around 4.9% while China, in comparison, has expanded its space capacity by 43% moving to second place in the world after the US, and it now accounts for 68% of the total available space for exhibition and conference facilities in Asia.
“This facility with integrated transport linkages will provide a definite advantage to attract more exhibitions and conferences to India and will eventually add to GDP growth,” said Alkesh Sharma, CEO and Managing Director of the DMICDC.
“Also, conventionally designed concrete structures pose flexibility issues for display of massive equipment and industrial machinery. The ECC will help address these problems and it will be built to the highest international standards,” he added.