CII flaunts "mismanaged" auto fair as king of trade shows

Free-loaders in the much-hyped Auto Expo went missing on Saturday as the crowd thinned with opening of the ticket sales costing Rs 200 each, even as organisers-CII sought to make a virtue out of "mismanagement" yesterday.

Over 1 lakh "pass-holders" thronged Pragati Maidan yesterday which was reserved for media resulting into a chaos, so much so the top industry leaders like Anand Mahindra resented reportedly saying it looked like a "Kumbh Mela."

According to CII's Trade Fair head Virendra Gupta, about 60,000 people visited the Fair today which is showcasing top car models by global firms. He said yesterday's "mismanagement" resulted from the exhibitors giving away huge number of free passes.

Besides, the traffic movement in and around Pragati Maidan, the venue for the fair, was smooth on Saturday.

CII, in a statement, tried to make a virtue out of the reported "Kumbh Mela" remarks of Mahindra and Mahindra Group CEO.

"Just as the Kumbh Mela is the king of all melas in the country, the Auto Expo is king of all trade shows in India... It is quite natural to have huge crowds," CII said adding the challenge was to manage the high visitor levels, "Keeping in mind the infrastructural constraints that the trade fairgrounds have."

The chamber said that the visitor level has been restricted to 70,000 per day as 30,000 people are also manning the exhibitors' halls.

The statement quoted Hero MotoCorp Joint Managing Director Sunil Kant Munjal stating "Wow, what a response... even though visitors may inconvenienced... augurs well for the economy."

However, Chairperson and CEO of the Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd Mallika Srinivasan was quoted as saying the crowds... give a serious pointer that in the currently available infrastructure the show has outgrown its size.