In a move aimed at ensuring that India joins the elite international exhibition market, the Union Cabinet on Friday approved the construction of a nearly Rs 26,000-crore Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre (ECC) at Dwarka here and allied infrastructure, including exhibition and convention spaces, arena, trunk-infrastructure, Metro/NHAI connectivity, hotels, office and retail spaces in PPP and non-PPP Mode.
The centre, to come up by 2025, will infuse more than 100 major international and local exhibition events annually.
The number of people visiting the exhibition facility annually (paying visitors) is estimated to be over 1 crore in the first phase (2019-20) and 2.30 crore after completion of the second phase (2025). Similarly, convention-based delegate attendance is estimated to cross 15 lakh annually after successful completion of second phase of the project.
Once fully operational, likely by December 2019, the project is expected to create 5,00,000 direct and indirect jobs. The Ministry of Environment and Forests has already given its green signal to this project. A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) would be created to execute the project.
The ECC has been designed to have 2,00,000 square metre of exhibition space, 60,000 square metre of convention space, a multipurpose arena with a capacity to accommodate 20,000 people, 3,500 hotel rooms and 3,75,000 square metre of retail and commercial space. The ECC will be around 15 minutes from the international airport in New Delhi and the site is being linked up with arterial road and rail networks.
The Centre will provide budgetary support of Rs 2,037.39 crore to the SPV as equity over a period of 3 years to fund trunk infrastructure, a part of exhibition centre, foyer, convention centre, metro connectivity, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), road connectivity including cost of land to be paid to DDA, water and Sewerage infrastructure, Railway land for Metro Connectivity and expenses towards other Non-PPP components.
As per the Cabinet decision, Rs1,381 crore from the market as Government-guaranteed loan and utilisation of Rs 4,000 crore by way of monetisation of Government-owned land and annual project revenue by the SPV. The proceeds from land monetisation and annual returns accrued by the SPV will be utilised for funding the non-Public Private Partnership (PPP) components of the project.
The Phase I of the project will be implemented as non-PPP component while the phase-II comprising of the remaining exhibition area will be implemented by 2025. The components comprising hotels, retail space and offices will be implemented in PPP mode.
Officials said the job creation will happen in core ECC facilities as well as in supporting ECC land uses like retail, office and hospitality.
According to officials, conferences and exhibitions are vital links to connect local manufacturers with global buyers and to serve as a platform for exchange of business ideas. “India lacks an integrated world class facility which can meet the requirements of global exhibition-cum convention operators in terms of space, project facilities, transportation linkages, etc. at a large scale. Development of Exhibition-cum-Convention (ECC) Centre at Dwarka accompanied with supporting components, once fully operational is expected to bring New Delhi in the league of Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore in the area of exhibition market,” officials said.
