The Adani Group plans to spend $2 billion to build Mumbai’s largest international convention centre (ICC) near the international airport that it also operates, according to a Mint report which cited two unnamed sources. HT couldn’t independently verify the information.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has also agreed to its design, but approval for the full blueprint is expected to come in two months, according to the report.
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It would be built at the western suburb of Vile Parle, close to the airport. It would also be owned and managed by Adani Airport Holdings Ltd.
This would however, result in direct competition with Reliance’s Jio World convention centre at coveted corporate hub, the Bandra Kurla Complex. It is the city’s largest at around 1 million square feet in size.
Meanwhile, India’s largest convention centre, Yashobhoomi in New Delhi spans 3.2 million square feet.
The centre, planned to span 1.5 million square feet in total and 1.2 million square feet on the inside, will be able to accommodate 15,000-20,000 people and will also host a five-star hotel with 275 rooms.
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This comes as an effort to connect local manufacturers with global buyers for exchanging ideas, and thereby playing an important role in promoting the country’s trade and export potential.
“Everybody wants to host events in India now,” the report quoted Girish Vanvari, founder at Transaction Square, a boutique consulting firm, as saying. “Earlier, all the road shows and auto shows were in Germany, chemical shows were in Switzerland, etc; now, that has changed. People want to showcase it in India.”
Convention centres also help business families build long-term goodwill into the minds of the public. An example would be Birla Matoshree in Mumbai, which has become an iconic centre where many large corporates conduct their shareholder meetings, according to the report.
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