Google, A1Books at Delhi Book Fair

New Delhi: The Delhi Book Fair that begins from September 16 will have online booksellers like Google and A1Books.com as major attractions.

Organised by India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) and the Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP), the September 16-24 book fair will see the participation of over 300 publishers from India and abroad.

Announcing the event on Thursday, Director of Delhi Book Fair Shakti Malik said a major attraction of the fair will be the participation of giant online booksellers like Google.com and A1Books.com.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit will inaugurate the annual book fair at the Pragati Maidan. Eminent poet Javed Akhtar will be the Guest of Honour at the inaugral function.

Foreign participants include publishers from Pakistan, China, the US, Iran and Mauritius.

The nine-day event will showcase a wide range of books based on varied subjects including fiction, non-fiction and academic references.

"To make the fair more significant, conferences, seminars, buyer-seller meets, book releases, book launches and painting competitions will be organised," Malik said.

To encourage more participation, the organisers have announced a subsidy of Rs 10,000 for the publishers and an additional amount of Rs 5,000 will be given as travel and accomodation expenses to the participants coming from outside Delhi, he said.

Considering the mass participation in the event, adequate security arrangements will be made, said an ITPO official.