An estimated one million people visited the 17th New Delhi World Book Fair (NDWBF), which concluded here today.
"The book fair transacted business worth crores of rupees and an estimated one million book-lovers visited it," National Book Trust Director Nuzhat Hassan said at a news conference.
She said the estimates were based on the sale of tickets for the nine-day fair, which highlighted the theme of 'Cultural Diversity in Contemporary Society'.
"The 17th book fair had about eight lakh visitors.... The event this year has recorded an increase in the number of visitors," she added.
The event, which was inaugurated by Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh on January 27, had about 1300 participants, including 17 from foreign countries and international bodies-- UNICEF, WHO and ILO.
As many as 48 Pakistani publishers and authors attended the fair besides delegates from other countries including France, the US, the UK, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
International seminar, cultural programmes, poetry recitation and multimedia presentations were organised at the event that was spread across an area of 38,000 sq mtr.
A specially designed Guest of Honour pavilion showcased India's endeavour to promote its publishing and printing profile in the international market.
{{/usCountry}}A specially designed Guest of Honour pavilion showcased India's endeavour to promote its publishing and printing profile in the international market.
{{/usCountry}}The fair, a biennial event, for the first time had an exclusive pavilion devoted to youth besides the regular children's pavilion which was very popular among the visitors due to varied activities like workshops on creative writing and photography.
"Efforts were made to reach out to Indian authors and publishers and present them within and outside the country.... Indian books in all the languages were showcased at the fair which had 2300 stalls," said Hassan.
The book fair highlighted the process of teaching and learning among the varied cultures, Ms Hassan said.
"Cultural identity of all the groups has to be maintained.... but at the same time they have to be presented in a composite way A platform was provided to our numerous language publishers who could not take their books to the public," she added.