Corridor to knowledge and development

Corridor to knowledge and development



The Bangalore-Mysore expressway project promises to be a knowledge hub

The Times of India




The Bangalore-Mysore expressway is more than just a road to Mysore. It has the elements of a 'knowledge corridor' that converts the road into a belt of commercial development and opportunity. As part of the facilities planned along the route are civic infrastructure and business facilities. These hold promise of development potential in the region.
A state-of-the-art convention facility, being put up by the Indian Machine Tool Manufacturers' Association as part of the expressway project, called the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre, may soon become a landmark in the city. It promises to turn into a destination for international conferences, theatre festivals, film festivals, art shows and auto shows. Such facilities, capable of holding global meets, draw tourists and entrepreneurs to the region. The Cannes Film Festival and the Hanouver Fair receive worldwide attention and have become destinations. This facility too may well be on its way to becoming a global destination, creating a 'knowledge hub' in the region.
The facility comprising three large halls can accommodate 40,000 square metres of exhibition space. The entire area has no pillars, thereby, providing tremendous flexibility to exhibition organisers in laying out their stalls and exhibits. Under-the-floor ducting for power, water, compressed air and telecommunication networks will facilitate easy and smooth movement across the exhibition space. The floor will also have a loadbearing capacity of 30 tonnes per square metre, which will be sufficient to accommodate very heavy exhibits like large machine tools, earth moving equipment, textile machinery and big compressors.
Says Ashok Kheny, MD, Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises, "Bangalore being an attractive city, this exhibition center if combined with tourism will give a boost to the industry. Delegates often come for conferences accompanied by their spouses, and this aspect can be effectively used to promote tourism."
The exhibition halls will be air-cooled by energy-consuming cooling technology. An arched roof gives a spacious and environment-freshness feeling to exhibitors and visitors.
Every hall has been provisioned with a management office for use by exhibition organisers as well as an exclusive protocol lounge to accommodate VIP visitors. The main food court is in close proximity to the exhibition halls - to service the needs of a large volume of visitors and exhibitors at any given point of time.
The complex is enabled with latest gadgetry for modern-day conferencing and business-to-business events. It also has adequate space for registration facilities, holding concurrent exhibitions as well as for other support facilities including exclusive areas for meals and for enabling one-to-one discussions.
"There is a need for such a campus," says Senior Facilities Manager of Novell Software, S Hemkumar. "I remember attending a conference in a Convention Centre in Los Angeles which had a filming area, photo galleria, information center, and a downtown area for entertainment in the evening. I hope this one too has similar facilities, with specific areas for training, education and different sizes of meeting rooms."

Training centre


This centre encompasses a hi-tech computer lab connected with 50 work-stations. It also includes small halls for holding technical seminars and workshops. It will also house the IMTMA Design Institute - the country's first private institution for training young engineers on the latest in design skills as well as the proposed IMTMA Productivity Training Centre.
Corporates in the city are finding it increasingly necessary for a convention center of this magnitude in the IT city. With many of the employees here having experienced world-class convention centers in foreign countries, they hope that such a facility becomes a reality soon.
According to Mysore-based pediatrician and founder of Asha Kirana Hospital Dr S N Mothi, a center of this magnitude will certainly bring in a lot of visibility for Mysore. "It is not possible to hold a national level meet comprising 7,000-8,000 delegates as of now, but if such a facility comes up in the vicinity of the center along with accommodation and other back-ups, it will be a boon," he says.

Potential for real estate


This facility also brings another dimension with it. The real estate sector will find it another catalyst in its already booming graph. The need for ancillary support segments around this facility is bound to be create a market for property in the vicinity. This apart, the service sector such as hotels and retail will find the visitors a potential market to cater to. Housing too will see some gains, with the facility leading to demand for housing, from the economic activity it entails.