By Parsa Venkateshwar Rao Jr

Rakesh Kumar, chairman of India Exposition Mart Ltd is an unassuming man with a Himachal cap as he sits across the table and tells of the Rs 100 crore, 134-room hotel that is being opened at his Mart in Greater Noida. The Mart is a B2B site where trade exhibitions are held, including the All India Handicrafts show, where buyers from other countries flock to buy from artisans from all over India. The India Expo Mart also hosts important exhibitions like Auto Expo, which is in its 10^th year, and the next one is opening on January 8, 2023. He modestly refuses to mark any comparisons with Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, which has been hosting international and national exhibitions of industrial and other products.

The hotel will be managed by Four Seasons, a well-known hotel chain, but the marquee will be that of the India Exposition Mart.  Sudeep Sarcar, who has been in in the hospitality business for decades and who is now with the Mart, says that the hotel for business purposes is meant for ‘eat-sleep-meet’, and when it is located at the place of the exhibition itself, it saves many of the issues like transportation. But the hotel complex will also be developed with other facilities which will create the cultural ambience and it is not confined to bare functional purposes. There is also a plan to build another hotel within the same complex to expand the facilities. The hotel complex is to be known as ExpoInn Suites & Convention. It will be a four-star hotel, which is meant for businesses and not a luxury hotel.

He explains that the hotel is part of an integrated exhibition complex which has 40 exhibitions stalls, a helipad, parking for 2000 cars and Metro connection. The-52 acre site has been purchased from the Uttar Pradesh Government. And it is 15 minutes away from the upcoming international airport at Jewar. Kumar is all praise for Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for playing a pro-active role in developing Noida-Greater Noida into a business and industrial hub. He said that the chief minister has broken the jinx time and again that a chief minister who visits Noida loses power.

Rakesh Kumar, Chairman, India Exposition Mart Ltd

Kumar narrates about the beginnings. He says that the mart was started by pooling in funds from 1230 small handicraft exporters in 2006 and in the first year it could generate a Rs 6 crore revenue and it grew to Rs 461 crore in 2016. The Indian Exposition Mart Ltd is also going in for an IPO n 2023.