In 2,000-Crore Revamp Of Delhi’s Pragati Maidan, Iconic Buildings To Be Razed: 10 Points

profile and increasing presence at summit, ministerial and other levels, a need has been felt to have a modern world-class Integrated Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre at New Delhi to provide an appropriate venue for international events.”
The present facilities have been found to fall short of international standards, a government press release said.
The Indian National Trust for art and Cultural Heritage or INTACH has in a plea in court said that buildings like the Hall of Nations and the Nehru Pavilion at Pragati Maidan are part of “modern heritage” and need to be protected.
The Indian Institute of Architects, which says it has 20,000 members, has made multiple appeals in the last few years to the government to reject the new plan and save the buildings, which it has described as “testimony to the nation’s prowess in structural engineering and architecture.”
However, the India Trade Promotion Organisation or ITPO, which owns the Hall of Nations and Nehru Pavilion, has opposed the plea to save these buildings, saying it interferes with the plan to set up a world-class facility.
The Hall of Nations, the main exhibition pavilion at Pragati Maidan, was designed by architect Raj Rewal and built in 1972, to mark 25 years of the country’s Independence.
Pragati Maidan was for years Delhi’s one stop for exhibitions. Lately many of these have moved to the suburbs, but the annual India International Trade Fair and several important Book Fairs continue to be held there.