Hyderabad’s Numaish set to present lively look this time

The exhibition society is aiming to make sure at least 80 per cent stall owners start their business activity from inaugural day itself

Hyderabad: If all goes well, the All India Industrial Exhibition more popular as Numaish, will present a lively look from day one itself with all stalls opening and catering to the visitors.

The exhibition society is aiming to make sure at least 80 per cent stall owners start their business activity from inaugural day itself. “We want to give more mileage to the visitors and stall owners. Traders are being encouraged to keep things ready before the official inaugural and kick-start business,” said exhibition society vice president, Ashvin Margam.

From Monday onwards, the society will be issuing allotment letters to the stall owners. Around 1,200 stalls will be allotted for which 2,000 applications were received from traders from across the country. The number of stalls came down because of security reasons and fire prevention norms allowing more space for movement of emergency vehicles.

The society is also approaching the authorities concerned to allow the exhibition to run till at least 11.30 pm on weekends when there are huge crowds.

“Markets are open till midnight across the city. So we are seeking relaxation from the regular timing of 10.30 pm for the exhibition so that people don’t crowd and visitors get ample time to shop and relax here,” he said.

The Numaish could not be held as per schedule in the last four years due to Covid pandemic triggered issues. In the years before pandemic, around 20 lakh people used to visit the Numaish during the 45 day period and attendance touched 40,000 on a single day on weekends.

As the exhibition remained shut down due to Covid pandemic for two seasons and also changes in the schedules, the society had incurred financial losses. “Hence, we are increasing the entry fee to Rs. 40 per person. We run educational institutions and do philanthropic work with the money earned through sale of ticket and leasing space for stalls. After four years we are increasing the entry fee,” said Ashvin Margam.

Following complaints of telecom related network issues, the exhibition society is holding discussion with various companies to install additional mobile towers to boost the network connectivity. “We are also planning to provide free ‘Wifi’ facility to the visitors,” he added.