National Book Trust, India successfully organizes the first ever Virtual Edition of New Delhi World Book Fair 2021

National Book Trust, India organized the 29th New Delhi World Book Fair (NDWBF) from March 6-9, 2021 as a Virtual Edition. NDWBF is a much awaited annual calendar event for booklovers across the globe. The virtual edition of NDWBF 2021 made it possible for readers from other nations to visit the fair. The book fair was inaugurated by the Hon’ble Minister of Education – Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ on 5 March 2021 in a virtual mode.

Hon’ble Minister of Education also launched 17 bilingual titles published by National Book Trust, India. These titles have been published in Bilingual format under the Bilingual Editions series for Children as per the guidelines of the National Education Policy 2020 with the objective to create supplementary reading materials for children to help them adapt suitably to the multilingual fabric of the country.

The theme for NDWBF 2021 was National Education Policy-2020. It was dedicated to the symbiosis of book reading culture with the vision of the new education policy, and it was the first-ever 4-day virtual event based around NEP-2020. More than 35 programs, including webinars, panel discussions, book launches, interactive sessions, international dialogues were organized to discuss the various aspects pertaining to the National Education Policy.

The NDWBF Virtual Edition was visited by booklovers from about 70 countries and about 600 cities, including US, UK, UAE, Canada, France, Germany, Singapore, Brazil, Nigeria, Netherlands, amongst others. Booklovers visited NDWBF to browse books of their choice and watch the various literary and cultural events. Over 72 speakers and moderators from India and abroad participated in the sessions that had a cumulative runtime of over 35 hrs.

The NDWBF-2021 being organized in the virtual mode with the website functional and accessible round the clock, the visitors around the world could watch the events or browse for books at any time of the day or night. More than 41,000 viewers watched the various discussions, dialogues and literary events that were held on various topics related to books and education.

With more than 165 e-stalls, of both Indian and foreign publishers, visitors were spoilt for choice as they browsed and purchased their favourite books. During the four days of NDWBF 2021, the website had a hit of more than 2.8 million with hundreds of business sessions and book orders.