The Times of India             16.08.2013

Madurai civic body proposes permanent convention centre

MADURAI: The city corporation has proposed to construct a full-fledged convention centre for the benefit of trade and industries to host their exhibitions. Mayor V V RajanChellappa made this announcement during the Independence Day celebrations held on the corporation premises on Thursday. The convention centre would be established at a cost of Rs 6 crore on a 9.50 acre corporation land in Avaniapuram, he said.

Speaking on the sidelines of the celebrations, Chellappa said the land was retrieved from private encroachers recently after evicting them. The corporation is planning to construct a compound wall to safeguard the place. "The tourism department has agreed to provide the funds and it will be a joint venture of the corporation and the district administration as well," he said. "The convention centre will have proper infrastructure to hold events and trade fairs and it will have spacious parking facilities and other basic amenities," he mentioned.

The permanent trade centre or such facility is a 15-year demand of the trade and industrial associations here since they have to host all the trade and industrial fairs at the Tamukkam grounds. Every time, the organisers are forced spend huge amounts on the stalls, establishing makeshift ones and dismantling them later, which was felt as a constraint by the trade and industrial forums.

Based on the demand from these associations, the civic body carried out a survey some months ago and has been screening various places in this regard. "We laud this announcement because a permanent trade centre is a crucial factor for the industrial development in the region," commented S Rethinavelu, senior president of Tamil Nadu Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "When such trade fairs are held often, there will be lot of motivation among the young entrepreneurs to learn new trade venues and try them," he stated. The industrial associations have been incurring huge cost on infrastructure to host trade fairs and they will be relieved of it with the proposed facility, Rethinavelu added.

The mayor also listed the number of schemes implemented during the AIADMK regime stating that they have carried out the projects worth Rs 287.52 crore so far.