Recently the Indian exhibition industry has entered a modernization and growth phase. New tradeshows are organized, new exhibition centres are built, and the market is opening up to foreign investors for both the organization of exhibitions and the operation of venues.

Thanks to its growing economy (8.5% of GDP) and its demography (1,095 million inhabitants, and 300 million middle class); India is emerging as a major player on the global economic scene. Its many assets should enable it to become a key player in the global exhibition business in the midterm
period.

India’s exhibition infrastructure, in terms of venue and space availability, must be increased and modernized. In a way of comparison, India today has the same exhibition capacity as the city of Chicago. Until now India lags far behind China whose available exhibition space is eight times greater and which has three times the number of exhibitions.

Internal overview
Currently there are only 14 purpose-built exhibition centres providing an indoor exhibition space of 205,185sq.m. Of these only 3 have space exceeding 20,000sq.m. No exhibition centre exceeds 70,000sq.m of available indoor exhibition space. New Delhi and Mumbai alone represent 70% of
the nation’s dedicated exhibition capacity.

As in any developing economy, steps are being made to meet the demands made by increasingly robust manufacturing and service sectors. Three new exhibition facilities are on the horizon, and the nation’s 55 show organizers are continually developing new exhibition themes. The creation of
partnerships and joint-ventures with foreign exhibition organisations is also driving the industry standard forward. But as India’s industrial engineering, garment, transport equipment and IT/telecoms sectors continue to develop in this nation representing Asia’s fourth largest economy,
the shortfall in professional exhibition facilities will become increasingly acute.

The Indian exhibition market, reflecting its overall economy, has witnessed a significant change and growth over the last 15 years. Since 1990, and particularly since 2000, the exhibition business has profited from new purpose-built exhibition venues in several Indian cities.

However, the major weakness of the Indian exhibition industry is still the lack of appropriate facilities and available exhibition space. Some new construction and expansion projects are currently planned for Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi, and Bangalore. However this is quite small compared to
the volume of the market (population and industries) and its economic and commercial potential. The lack of appropriate exhibition space will therefore continue to limit any rapid development of the Indian exhibition business, particularly as compared to the fast-growing exhibition markets in China
and in the Middle East’s Gulf Countries.

New Delhi is ahead by far in the exhibition business in India taking the lead in available purposebuilt exhibition space, the number of hosted exhibitions and the number of major exhibition organisers. Mumbai follows second with some other cities emerging, such as Bangalore, Chennai
and Hyderabad. The business sectors of the exhibitions hosted in India reflect the historical know-how and the new dynamism of the Indian economy (Industrial Engineering, Fashion & Garment, Medical & Pharmaceutical, IT).

According to the Indian exhibition database Biztradeshows, exhibitors are now recognizing the value of participating in exhibitions. However, trade fair organisers have still a strong tendency to focus their business attention on exhibitors, and not on visitors. The presence of foreign investors and the recent partnerships undertaken between foreign and domestic stakeholders demonstrates the attractiveness of this country as an emerging and
promising market. Furthermore, the recent creation of an Indian exhibition association shows the willingness of the major market players to federate and structure the exhibition industry.

Future perspective
India has a middle class of more than 300 million people and the youngest economy in terms of qualified entrepreneurs. The potential, in terms of numbers of people with significant buying power who can profit from tradeshows, is clearly enormous.

For the development of its exhibition industry, India can count on its dynamic economic centres including New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad. Other cities are developing their economic specialties such as Bangalore and Hyderabad for IT and Biotechnology. Today exhibition organizers are concentrating on niche areas such as machine tools, building and construction, engineering, electronics, plastics and rubber. As the economy is opening up, more products are exhibited and the need for specialized exhibitions increases. The retail marketing sector is also a new trend in the trade fair industry in India.

The exhibition market in India has a promising future and is destined to grow. The policy of the Indian government and its bureaucracy is slowly changing, allowing private stakeholders and the foreign investors to invest and develop business more easily. With the Indian economy progressing
at a rate over 8% per annum, and the help of the government and the participation of the private sector, India is on the right track to boosting its exhibition industry.

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