Delhi lieutenant governor inaugurates the 18th Delhi Book Fair

03 September, 2012

The 18th Delhi Book Fair was inaugurated by Delhi lieutenant governor Tejendra Khanna on Saturday, September 1, at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

ACCORDING TO the organisers, the ten-day book fair being held in Hall Nos. 8 - 12A of Pragati Maidan, New Delhi will conclude on September 9. It will remain open to the public from 11.00 AM to 8.00 PM with entry closing at 7.30 pm daily. The entry tickets for adults are for Rs.20, children Rs. 10 and students Rs.10 with I-Cards. The organizers feel that more students are going to visit the fair this time compared to last year.

In his inaugural address, Tejendra Khanna said that the focus for book publishing must shift to e-books now to meet the emerging demand of young generation. “Books are synonymous with knowledge and publishers should try their best to ensure maximum reach of their books. e-publishing is the best way to make books affordable to a wide audience and take them beyond geographical boundaries,” said Khanna.

Director of Delhi Book Fair, Shakti Malik, parents and schools must encourage school going children to visit the fair and should pay attention to instill reading habits among them.

With the trend going towards digitalization of books, the theme of this year's book fair is e-publishing. "This (e-books publishing) is a market which needs to be exploited to its full potential,” Malik said in his speech.

The organisers are expecting over three lakh visitors to the book fair this year, one lakh more than last year.