Bharat Mandapam
The 2023 G20 New Delhi summit took place at this venue between 9-10 September 2023.
History
Hall of Nations was designed by architect Raj Rewal. It was inaugurated on 3 November 1972 by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, on the eve of the International Trade Fair called Asia 72. The venue and the event were meant to celebrate 25 years of India's Independence.
It is a huge complex of buildings, covering over 150 acres (0.61 km) sprinkled with many lawns, overlooking the historic Purana Qila, which stands opposite Gate no 1.
The complex houses many pavilions like the Nehru Pavilion, the Defence Pavilion, the Indira Pavilion, and the Son of India Pavilion. It has various building which are built in various shapes and sizes. It also has an auditorium where rock shows and plays are held quite frequently. There is also an internal shuttle service for those who do not wish to walk. Pragati Maidan used to house a movie theatre called Shakuntalam, quite popular among college kids for its comparatively cheap tickets. The complex houses 18 exhibition halls, several buildings, eateries, performance spaces and compounds, including headquarters of the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), and hosts over 70 national and international exhibitions annually, with the largest being the India International Trade Fair which attracts over 10,000 exhibitors and over 30,00,000 visitors.
Pragati Maidan is flanked by Mathura Road to its West and Bhairon Road on the South. To its east runs the main railway line to Central and Southern India. Pragati Maidan is situated in Central Delhi. Pragati Maidan offers about 61,290 sq. metres of covered exhibition space in 16 halls, besides 10,000 sq. metres of open display area.
In 2006, ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, a Rs 1,260-crore redevelopment plan was initiated by the government. Pragati Maidan may house a new convention centre that would be five to eight times bigger in capacity than Vigyan Bhavan.
After Modi's government came to power in 2014, it sought to revamp the Pragati Maidan. The comprehensive revamp plan of the Pragati Maidan, IECC project was conceptualized by the ITPO as per the direction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2015. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved it in January 2017 for implementation in a mission mode. The plan to replace Hall of Nations with a new convention center was justified on the need of needing a new 'world class' exhibition-cum-convention centre for the G20 meetings that India was to host few years later. The conservationist and architects from all over the world protested the plan to demolish the iconic Hall of Nation and instead asked the government to preserver the hertiage building. However, a few days later, ITPO demolished the building. The complex was replaced by a new Bharat Mandapam, which was inaugrated in 2023 by Narendra Modi in July 2023. In September 2023, it hosted the G20 Leader's Summit.
In 2016 the consortium of architecture firms, Arcop (Delhi) and Aedas (Singapore), led respectively by architect Sanjay Singh, and Spanish architect Simón Núñez de Arenas Fraile ( Simon N.A.F.) won the competition for the design of the Master Plan and architectural design of the Exhibition Halls and Convention Center.The IECC (Integrated Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre) implemented at a cost of more than Rs. 2600 Cr. has been built by NBCC. NBCC subcontracted the work to Shapoorji Pallonji Group.
The project has a total built-up area of 390,000 sq. metres, comprising an iconic, world-class convention centre that can accommodate 7,000 people in a single format, six modern exhibition halls with an exhibition area of 1.5 lakh sq. metres and plenty of underground parking facilities and good infrastructure connectivity to encourage the use of public transportation, but also allow roads to decongest fast. Pragati Maidan is spread over 123 acres of prime land in the heart of India's capital, New Delhi. The revamped complex comprises the newly built double-storied exhibition Halls - 1, 2, 3, 4. 5 & 15 and a single-floor structure - Hall 6.
Recurring events
The Pragati Maidan complex is divided into two sections - the old hall complex which comprises Halls 7 -12A and the new hall complex which comprises Halls 1 to 6 and 14. Some of the events held in Pragati Maidan are the India International Trade Fair, AAHAR, World Book Fair and the Auto Expo.
The two-week-long India International Trade Fair (IITF) begins here each year on 14 November. In 1999, during the fair, two new air-conditioned halls 12 and 13 on an area of 9,000 sq. m. were opened to public, when some 5,200 enterprises, over 70 companies from 14 countries set up shop. The 2003 IITF saw 25 lakh visitors to Pragati Maidan. Today, Northern Railways runs special trains to Pragati Maidan during the annual fair, as does the Delhi Metro, which handled an average daily ridership of 50,000 commuters during the 2008 fair.
At a corner of Pragati Maidan, on Mathura Road lies "Matka Peer" or the dargah shrine of Hazrat Sheikh Abubakr Tusi Qalandari, a mystic who came to Delhi from Iran, around the 1260s CE. Further down on Bhairon road, lies the National Handicrafts and Handlooms Museum and further down stands the National Science Centre. The Pragati Maidan Delhi Metro station which is the largest station on the section built over an area of 6,800 square metres, opened in November 2006, during the ongoing India International Trade Fair, and on the eight day, over 2 lakh passenger used the facility.
Each year, the Income Tax Department opens over 150 counters for filing Income Tax returns. It also hosted Wills Lifestyle Indian Fashion Week (WIFW) of the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), in 2008 and 2009., apart from exhibitions of almost all major industries, from toys, leather, lifestyle products and services, exports to medical equipment and sports equipments, and even a job fair.
Accessibility
Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station is 3 km from Pragati Maidan. The best way to reach Pragati Maidan is by Delhi Metro. Get down at the Supreme Court metro station which is located at gate number 10.
During the exhibitions, entry of visitors is also allowed through Gate No 4 on Bhairon Road.
See also
- Hall of Nations - Demolished in 2017
- Neighbourhoods of Delhi
- Auto Expo
- Pragati Maidan railway station