New Delhi: The next edition of the country's leading automobile show, the Auto Expo, will be held from January 13-18 next year, having been cancelled this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The last edition of the biennial automobile show took place in February 2020 amid fears of the spread of the coronavirus across the world. It was supposed to take place in February this year at Greater Noida but was postponed due to the worsening COVID-19 situation.
"The Motor Show (Auto Expo) is confirmed from January 13-18, 2023, at India Expo Mart Greater Noida. January 11 will be exclusively for the media ; January 12 will be the inaugural ceremony and for the media, special guests and dealers," Society of Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) Director General Rajesh Menon told the media. While the Auto Expo would be held at Greater Noida, the auto components show on the other hand would take place at the revamped Pragati Maidan complex.
In a statement issued in August last year, Menon had noted that the magnitude of the risk of spread of infection is extremely high in a business-to-consumer (B2C) show like the Auto Expo which is visited by large crowds and maintaining social distancing would be difficult. It has therefore been decided to postpone the Auto Expo The Motor Show for now, he had stated.
Also read:Mask rules at Delhi's 2020 Auto Expo as coronavirus dims mood
Menon had noted that safety of exhibitors, visitors and all stakeholders involved and present at the Auto Expo was the top most priority for SIAM. It is in this context that the Indian automobile industry and SIAM recognises the inherent risks in organising the Auto Expo due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic and the apprehensions of a possible third wave, he had stated last year. The Auto Expo 2020 saw total footfalls of over six lakh visitors.
The country's flagship auto show had witnessed around 70 product launches and unveils, 352 product displays from 108 exhibitors. The Covid-19 situation has largely improved across the country over the last few months. According to data shared by the health department on March 17, Delhi reported 144 COVID-19 cases and one fatality, while the positivity rate stood at 0.39 per cent.
Including the latest reported cases, the national capital's case count increased to 18,63,345, while the death toll rose to 26,144, the health bulletin stated. The city had recorded a positivity rate of 30.6 per cent on January 14, the highest during the ongoing wave of the pandemic. Amid a decline in daily cases of COVID-19 in Delhi, the number of patients under home isolation here has significantly fallen in the last few weeks. The surge in COVID-19 cases in Delhi during the third wave of the pandemic was largely due to the Omicron variant of the virus, which is highly transmissible.
PTI
