INDIA – The exhibition industry in India could soon be buoyed by a new exhibition and convention centre, planned for development in the west of the country.
The Rs600 crore (US$132m) Pune International Exhibition and Convention Centre (PIECC), planned as part of a 240 acre (972,000sqm) development at Moshi, has been cleared by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan following a meeting with senior officials from Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad.
The project will include a convention centre, surrounded by seven exhibition halls, a pair of 28-storey commercial towers, hotels, retail, business and leisure space, as well as a nine-hole golf-course.
Core to the new project’s development is a promise to alter the way international conventions and exhibitions will be conducted in the country.
“There is a dearth of international exhibition and convention centres that can hold global events like the India Auto Show," said the president of the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce Industries and Agriculture (MCCIA), Abhay Firodia, one of the key champions of the PIECC project.
"Existing venues like the Pragati Maidan in New Delhi were proving inadequate to hold mega expo events, while the convention centre at Bangalore doesn't compare with what has been proposed for the PIECC in terms of size, scale and modernity,” he said.
Analysts believe the project will take between five and 10 years to complete, however the first phase, which includes the convention centre and two exhibition halls, would be completed by the end of 2012.
The land set aside for development currently belongs to the Pimpri-Chinchwad New Town Development Authority (PCNTDA). However, it is understood that a Government initiative (special purpose vehicle), headed by secretary to the state urban development department, will be used to free up the land for development.
