When Delhi’s biggest exhibition centre — Pragati Maidan — came up in 1982, little did one know that the compound that is spread over 149 acres offering 72,000 square metres of exhibition space and parking capacity for over 1,000 cars, will ever face a space crunch. It did take sometime coming, but after 25 years, the incredible has happened. While all the glitz and glamour is there, this year’s Auto Expo suffers from unavailability of space. So much so, that some of the stalls have been built on the lakes.

By whichever yardstick one measures by, the Auto Expo, which will get underway tomorrow, is the biggest automotive extravaganza that the country has ever seen. While participants and exhibitors have increased with every passing edition, this year will see 2,000 exhibitors comprising of 51 vehicle manufacturers and over 1,900 component, accessories and other manufacturers. As a result, joint organisers Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and Auto Component Manufacturers’ Association (ACMA) had to work overtime and come up with innovative ideas to create 1,20,000 sq metres of exhibition space.

“There is no doubt that this is the biggest Auto Expo ever. There are many first-timers who had to be accommodated. Some manufacturers like Hyundai, who did not participate in the previous edition, are also back,” said a SIAM official. “The delegations from abroad are also getting bigger and there is an acute shortage of space. We had to decline a lot of participants before the last date.”

... contd.