This year Numaish will have free Wifi to facilitate online transactions

Entry fee to 82nd edition of the annual exhibition has been hiked to ₹40 per head

A new feature at the 82nd edition of All India Industrial Exhibition, popularly known as ‘Numaish’, from January 1 will be the availability of free Wifi all over the Exhibition Grounds at Nampally.

At a media conference to announce the inauguration of the 45 day exhibition by Home Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali on the opening day, society secretary Adittya Margam and other office bearers said the entire ground will be networked with Wifi for communication and business activity. The society had tied up with BSNL to provide user ID and password enabled facility. It was introduced this year in view of complaints from shopkeepers last time that their financial transactions in electronic mode were affected in the absence of Wifi.

Another major intervention this time was introduction of an underground fire fighting system by laying a water pipeline over 2.8 kms and linking it to two sumps with a capacity of 1.50 lakh litres each. The facility was built with the experience of a major fire accident that took place at the exhibition in 2019. The road network was widened to make it motorable. The society also increased wheelchair accessibility for the infirm

The number of stalls registered so far was 2,350, slightly lower than last year. The entry fee was hiked from ₹30 to ₹40 per head. Since the shopkeepers were permitted to sleep overnight, convenience facilities were created and consultation rooms set up to provide medical attention for them. The society had tied up with a corporate hospital to meet grave emergencies.

The event generated a GST of ₹six crore and one million manhours for workers last year. A proposal to organise a similar exhibition at Karimnagar was still at discussion stage. The society was asking stall holders to showcase attractive items at reasonable price, the office bearers said.