India Trade Promotion Organisation
India Trade Promotion Organisation , headquartered at Pragati Maidan, is the nodal agency of the Government of India under aegis of Ministry of Commerce and Industry for promoting country's external trade. ITPO is a Mini-Ratna Category-1 Central Public Sector Enterprise with 100 percent shareholding of Government of India.
In January 2016, ITPO appointed NBCC as Project Management Consultant for Integrated Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre project as part of Redevelopment of Pragati Maidan. The project garnered much media attention due to demolition of Hall of Nations and Nehru Pavilion by ITPO in April 2017, after approval from Delhi High Court. ITPO has awarded the IECC construction work to Shapoorji Pallonji Group for INR 2150 crores, making the project cost go over whopping INR 2600 crores.
On 22 December 2017, Vice-President of India Venkaiah Naidu laid foundation stone of IECC project and Integrated Transit Corridor Development project at Pragati Maidan.
Events of ITPO
At Pragati Maidan, New Delhi- Aajeevika
- Smart City India Expo
- India International Footwear Fair, New Delhi
- Delhi Book and Stationary Fair
- India Wellness Expo
- Electricity India
- Telecom India
- India International Security Expo
- India International Trade Faie
- New Delhi World Book Fair
- Nakshatra
- Tex Styles India
- Aahar- The International Food & Hospitality Fair
- Aahar – The Food & Hospitality Fair, Mumbai
- East Himalayan Expo, Gangtok
- India International Leather Fair, Chennai
- India International Leather Fair, Kolkata
- Tex Styles India, Kolkata
- As proposed by ITPO board and approved by Govt. of India
Many private companies, cooperatives and confederations organise prestigious fairs in Pragati Maidan such as
- Confederation of Indian Industries
- Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry
- ABEC
- Pavilions & Interiors
- Inter Ads
- Exhibition India Group
- MEX Exhibitions
- Reed Manch Exhibitions
- International Trade and Exhibitions India
- UBM India
- Messe Frankfurt India
- Hannover Milano Fairs India
History
ITPO, during its existence of more than 3 decades has played a proactive role in catalysing trade, investment and technology transfer processes. Its promotional tools include organising of fairs and exhibitions in India and abroad, Buyer-Seller Meets, Contact Promotion Programmes, Product Promotion Programmes, Promotion through Overseas Department Stores, Market Surveys and Information Dissemination.
Some of the structures in Pragati Maidan were designed by the best Architects of their times, like the following:
- Hall-6 , Hall 2-5 and Nehru Pavilion were designed by iconic architect Raj Rewal along with architect Kuldip Singh in 1971–1972. They were demolished in 2017 to give way for Redevelopment of Pragati Maidan.
- Later on, Hall-14 was designed by architect Raj Rewal in 1981–1982. This was also demolished in 2017 to give way for Redevelopment of Pragati Maidan.
- National Science Centre was designed by architect Achyut Kanvinde.
- Craft Museum was designed by architect Charles Correa.
- Hall-7 was designed by architect Rajinder Kumar.
- Hall-18 was designed by eminent architectural firm Stein, Doshi & Bhalla Consultants. This was demolished in 2018 to give way for Redevelopment of Pragati Maidan.
- Phoolwari Convention Centre was designed by architect Jasbir Sachdev. This was demolished in 2017 to give way for Redevelopment of Pragati Maidan.
- Shakuntalam Theatre was designed by architect Ranjit Sabikhi. This was demolished in 2017 to give way for Redevelopment of Pragati Maidan.
- Erstwhile Hindustan Lever Pavilion was designed by architect Charles Correa.
- Erstwhile DCM pavilion was designed by architect Jasbir Sawhney.
- Erstwhile Ford Pavilion was designed by architect Sanjay Wadhwa.
Sphere of Activities
ITPO has an extensive infrastructure as well as marketing and information facilities that are availed by both exporters and importers. ITPO had had overseas offices at New York City, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Moscow and São Paulo for pursuing opportunities for enhancement of India's trade and investment. However, all overseas offices are now closed by ITPO.
ITPO has four Regional Offices:
- Chennai
- Kolkata
- Mumbai
Subsidiaries
ITPO has two subsidiaries namely Tamil Nadu Trade Promotion Organisation and Karnataka Trade Promotion Organisation with share holding of 51 percent in each of them. With the commissioning of the state-of-the-art Chennai Trade Centre in January 2001 and the Trade Centre Bangalore in September 2004, ITPO has successfully completed the first phase of the setting-up of modern exhibition facilities outside Delhi.In FY 2015-2016, TNTPO and KTPO registered revenues of about INR 315 million and INR 48 million respectively and have reserves of abour INR 1840 million and INR 390 million respectively.
The Chennai Trade Centre, which is now spread across 14,000 sqm, is planned to be expanded by addition of 6,000 sqm and ITPO is seeking approval from the board of the TNTPO for the same.
In 1995, ITPO launched 50:50 Joint subsidiary with National Informatics Centre in the form of National Centre for Trade Information , for collection and dissemination of trade data and improving Business Information Services to the business community, especially SME. In 2015-2016, NCTI registered operational loss of about INR 2 million and net negative assets of about INR 4 million.
ITPO had coordinated the construction of exhibition-cum-trade complex Maniram Dewan Trade Centre for Assam Trade Promotion Organisation under 'Assistance to States for Developing Export Infrastructure and Allied Activities Scheme, for facilitating trade in North-Eastern States.
International Trade and Convention Centre is proposed joint venture project of Indian Trade Promotion Organisation and Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation at 25 acres of land in the Kinfra Export Promotion Industrial Park in Kakkanad. The project would require investment of Rs.1125 million, of which 31.25 crore each will be provided by the central and state governments and the remaining Rs 50 crore will be mobilised via credit. The state government granted an in-principle approval for the project in 2012, but owing to the non-availability of funds it got delayed.
Strategic Issues
ITPO is operating a trade portal Trade Portal of India having all trade related information including country profiles, product profiles, trade directory etc. ITPO is networking with International Organisation in the field of Trade and Commerce through membership or collaborative arrangements such as Memorandum of Understanding, ITPO is a founder member of Asian Trade Promotion Forum and participates in its Annual meets regularly.Central Industrial Security Force provide round-the-clock security at Pragati Maidan. Access control to the exhibitions area would also be monitored by another team of the squad with help from private security guards.
ITPO signed MoU with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry to collaborate on trade promotion. ITPO also signed MoU with the Confederation of Indian Industry in April 2011, directed towards a collective and well-directed effort to promote India's trade identifying the internal strengths of the respective organisations.
ITPO signed MoU with National Book Trust, India for conducting New Delhi World Book Fair every year, starting from February 2013.
In 2013, ITPO has commissioned the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad to construct a Business Confidence Index and a Consumer Confidence Index using data from ITPO’s exhibitions.
Karnataka Exhibition Authority is in early discussions with ITPO to set up Pragati Haat in every district headquarters and one near Bangalore similar to that of Delhi’s Pragati Maidan. KEA has sought 20 acres of land in each district and 70 acres of land near Bangalore for the purpose.
As per Allocation of Business Rules, ITPO’s activities are now classified under Export Promotion, in place of the previous classification under State Trading.
Commerce & Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman endorsed in September 2015 that ITPO is one of India's best agencies for international affairs and is on the verge of starting a major Convention Centre in Delhi as the capital does not have a venue where international conferences could be held.
Financials
ITPO has been upgraded to Mini-Ratna Category-1 by Department of Public Enterprises in 2015 due to continuous profit and robust past performance. This shall empower ITPO to incur capital expenditure on new projects, modernisation, purchase of equipment etc., without Government approval up to Rs. 500 crores, which was Rs. 250 crores under Mini-Ratna Category-II. ITPO is registered under Section-8 of the Companies Act, 2013 and so does not declare any dividend.ITPO's cash surplus stands at more than Rs.18.4 billion in FY2015-16, making it one of the most cash-rich CPSE. As a result of robust performance in both financial and non- financial parameters, ITPO has achieved MoU excellent rating consecutively for the last four years between 2011-2015.
ITPO continued performing handsomely and registered total income of about Rs.3890 million and Net profit stood at about Rs.2630 million in FY 2016–2017, a jump of about 60 percent over previous year's profit of about Rs.1650 million.
In the MoU signed by ITPO with Department of Commerce for FY 2017-2018, financial target for Revenue from Operations has been fixed at Rs.2280 million and Net Surplus at Rs.160 million.
Logo
ITPO logo was designed for the erstwhile TFAI by eminent graphic designer Benoy Sarkar in 1974. He is also credited for designing iconic logos of Indian Airlines, Airports Authority of India, Delhi Transport Corporation, etc.ITPO logo has an interesting depiction of letters T and F. The tone is a fusion of preservation of traditions of Trade and Investments along with modern identity of ITPO. The logo has a universal form. It signifies an authority of India exercising trade through fairs and exhibitions in India and abroad. The emblem has been derived from an inscription on a gold coin belonging to the era of the ancient ruler, Samundragupta symbolising the zenith achieved in external trade. The vertical and horizontal strokes in the symbol represent life and prosperity.