New Delhi | Set to host the G20 Leaders' Summit, the Bharat Mandapam -- the magnificent international exhibition cum convention centre in the heart of the capital -- will open its doors to the common man after the event.
Built over a 123-acre campus, the project has 12 exhibition halls, a state-of-the-art convention centre that can accommodate 7,000 people in a multi-purpose hall and landscaped public plaza alongside an artificial lake spread across 1.5 acres.
An eight-acre public plaza, complete with musical fountains and a food court in front of the convention centre will be open for the people as a ticketed recreation zone, which was lacking in the earlier Pragati Maidan complex, Sanjay Singh, Director, Arcop Associates, and the architect of the Bharat Mandapam project told PTI.
The convention centre itself is designed to host large-scale international exhibitions, trade fairs, conventions, conferences, and is equipped with multiple meeting rooms, lounges, auditoria, an amphitheatre and a business centre.
The Bharat Mandapam project was designed by Arcop in association with Aedas, Singapore.
The convention centre can seat 13,500 people at a time in its various meeting halls with provisions for simulcast of proceedings taking place in one part of the building in every hall.
Singh recalled that the Pragati Maidan complex earlier had a series of exhibition halls spread across the 123 acre complex with people walking on the roads in the rain and the sun.
“We sought to change that to a pleasurable experience. We have connected the halls together and they have this unifying component – a 40-feet wide glass canopy where people could walk comfortably, with tea and coffee shops next to it,” said Singh.
He said the journey to the international exhibition and convention centre (IECC) too has been made comfortable with underpasses connecting the 40-acre basement parking lot that can hold over 5,000 cars and 60 buses.
“We created a 100,000 sq ft entrance plaza in the basement which is air conditioned. This is where all the ticketing and security checks will happen and when you come to the ground level, you have a choice to go into the ticketed zone which is the exhibition area or the non-ticketed zone which is the convention centre,” he said.
Singh said the earlier Pragati Maidan had about four lakh square feet of exhibition space of which nearly two lakh square feet was demolished to make way for the new structures.
Exhibition halls 7 to 12, covering over two lakh square feet, were not demolished.
However, the new exhibition halls have added around 16 lakh square feet of exhibition space, which is eight times the area that was demolished, “We have tried to integrate this with the social fabric of the city so that people can enjoy public spaces in a secure manner,” Singh said.
Singh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was closely involved in the project and reviewed its progress on a regular basis.
He said two to three presentations about the project were held in the prime minister's office and a lot of inputs were shared by various government agencies and departments.
“The government was very conscious that this was a showcase project. It was a project that was aligned with the G20 requirements. It should be the best, because we are hosting world leaders,” Singh said.
The convention centre will be available for public programmes after September, a senior official said.