Venue - Pragati Maidan

Pragati Maidan, headquarters of the India Trade Promotion Organisation, is more than just the premier exhibition complex of India. True to the meaning of its name, 'Pragati Maidan' stands for development and progress through trade.

Being India's biggest world-class exhibition complex and a symbol of the 'Modern Fair Culture' in India; pragati Maidan has grown with every event in stature and dimension. The development of the exhibition ground was a prelude to the hosting of the Railway Exhibition in 1952 to mark the centenary of Railways in India. Fairs like International Low Cost Housing Exhibition in 1955, International Graphic Arts and Printing Machinery Fair in 1957,World Agriculture Fair in 1960 and Indian Industrial Exhibition in 1961 followed this. However, the sprawling complex took its shape during 1958. The seventies changed both the fair complex as well as its complexion, with the hosting of Asia 1972 - the third Asian International Trade Fair coinciding with India's Silver Jubilee Year of Independence. It was an important milestone, as the Indian business community could understand the potential of promotional events like the Trade Fairs. The Fair Ground was re-christened as 'Pragati Maidan: In an ostensible acknowledgement of the significance of these events, the Trade Fair Authority of India (TFAI) was formed as on April 1, 1977 by an act of Parliament through the amalgamation of three bodies -Indian Council ofTrade Fairs and Exhibitions, Directorate of Exhibitions and Commercial Publicity ofthe Ministry of Commerce and India International Trade Fair Organisation, with the primary aim of organising trade shows.

India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) was formed sub­sequently on January 1,1992 with the merger of the former Trade Development Authority (TDA) with the TFAI. (TDA was set up in 1970 as a registered society under the Ministry of Commerce) Professionally managing India's premier exhibition complex, ITPO has, over the years reached many important milestones while performing its mandated role as the nodal trade promotion agency of the Government of India. Significantly, with the setting up of the National Centre for Trade Information (NCTI), jointly by ITPO and the National Informatics Centre (NIC), Government of India at Pragati Maidan in October 1994, ITPO, apart from maintaining its own database with regard to products and markets, is also regularly interacting with NCTI for supplementing its information base.

As a world class exhibition ground in India, Pragati Maidan hosts a series of high quality international and national trade fairs. Its exhibition halls, complete with a network of infrastructural facilities, in a lush green setting, make it the automatic choice ohop-notch exhibition organisers from India and abroad. Pragati Maidan, offers a business environment that promises to transform challenges into opportunities. Visited by top representatives and captains of trade and industry from all over India, Pragati Maidan clearly tunes into the requirements of the vast Indian market.