Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hoped that ‘YashoBhoomi’ and ‘Bharat Mandapam’ will help India to increase its share in conference tourism. He also tweaked his ‘vocal for local’ slogan to add a ‘global’ angle while launching PM Vishwakarma Scheme.
‘YashoBhoomi’ and ‘Bharat Mandapam’ are two new convention complexes, developed in New Delhi. While phase 1 of ‘YashoBhoomi’ was dedicated to the nation on Sunday, ‘Bharat Mandapam’ was inaugurated in July and then it hosted G20 Leadership Summit under India’s presidency.
On Sunday, Modi said that the two new centres are now going to make Delhi the biggest hub of conference tourism which is worth more than ₹25,000 crore. He highlighted that more than 32,000 big exhibitions and expos are organised in the world every year, where people coming for conference tourism spend more money than an ordinary tourist.
Modi also pointed out that India‘s share in such a big industry is only around one percent and many big companies in India go to foreign lands every year to organise their events. He further emphasised that India is also preparing itself for conference tourism now.
Global biz destination
‘YashoBhoomi’ project is spread in area of over 8.9 lakh square metres and has a total built-up area of more than 1.8 lakh square meters. Developed at a cost of around ₹5,400 crore, it boasts of a magnificent convention centre, multiple exhibition halls and other facilities. The convention centre, built across more than 73,000 square meters of area, comprises 15 convention rooms including the main auditorium, the grand ballroom and 13 meeting rooms with a total capacity of accommodating 11,000 delegates. The new centre is connected with the airport metro.
‘Bharat Mandapam’ is the name of the International Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre (IECC) complex at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi and developed as a national project at a cost of about ₹2,700 crores. The government aims to use this complex showcase and promote India as a global business destination.
“Today I invite people associated with the exhibition and event industry from countries around the world to come to Delhi. I will invite the film industry and TV industry of every region of the country, east, west, north, south. You hold your award ceremonies, film festivals here, hold first film shows here. I invite people associated with international event companies, exhibition sector to join Bharat Mandapam and YashoBhoomi,” he said.
Vishawakarma Scheme
Earlier, inaugurating a scheme to help and support 18 categories of traditional artisans and craftsman, the Prime Minister remarked that Vishwakarmas will always remain significant in society, no matter the advancements made in technology. “The government has come forward as a partner to elevate the respect, enhance the capabilities, and grow the prosperity of the Vishwakarmas”, he remarked.
Throwing light on the 18 focus areas of artisans and craftsmen, Modi informed that carpenters, blacksmiths, goldsmiths, sculptors, potters, cobblers, tailors, masons, hairdressers, washermen etc. have been included in the PM Vishwakarma Scheme and the expenditure will be ₹13,000 crores. The scheme comprises of training free toolkit and collateral free subsidised loan up to ₹3 lakh for working capital.
The Prime Minister said that the world witnessed the result of the amalgamation of technology and tradition in the G20 Craft Bazaar. Even the gifts for the visiting dignitaries comprised the products of the Viswakarma friends. “This dedication to vocal for local is the responsibility of the entire country,” he said. “First, we have to be vocal for local and then we will have to take the local global,” he added.