For the first time since it debuted back in 1986, the Auto Expo for 2014 be moving from Pragati Maidan, to a new location, 30km outside the national capital, to the India Expo Center in Greater Noida.
The 2012 edition, the biggest one so far, highlighted the shortcomings of Pragati Maidan as a venue – poorly maintained infrastructure, badly managed press days, ineffective crowd management and massive traffic snarls outside.
Although some may feel that the new venue is too far away from the main city, a trip to the new premises shows plenty of promise. The India Expo Centre is situated at the end of the six-lane Greater Noida Expressway, which means getting there is much easier than the distance suggests because of the lack of traffic on the well-laid route.
The Auto Expo 2014 venue is spread over 58 acres, and boasts eight huge exhibition halls. While it pales in comparison to Pragati Maidan in terms of size, the comforting aspect is that only the Motor Show with the automobile manufacturers will be moving to the new location. The Component Show will continue to take place at Pragati Maidan. Continued..
