Mamata to inaugurate 48th Kolkata Book Fair on Jan 28

KOLKATA: Planning a Sunday visit to the 48th International Kolkata Book Fair but concerned about Metro services? Rest assured, the Metro will be running. Like the last year, Metro will operate on Sundays for the bibliophiles with additional services on Green Line-1 on all the days of the fair from January 28 to February 9, 2025.

Metro will operate 122 services (61 East-bound and 61 West-bound) on Green Line-1 (instead of 106 services) during this period. Metro services on this line will be available from 6:55 am to 9.40 pm. The first service of Metro from Sealdah to Sector V is at 6.55 am and the last service is at 9.40 pm from Sector V to Sealdah.

On Sundays, especially for the book fair, Metro will operate 74 services (37 East-bound and 37 West-bound) on Green Line-1 on February 2 and February 9, both Sundays, during the fair. Metro services on this line will be available from 2.15 pm to 9.40 pm. Services will be operated at an interval of 12 minutes during the fair days on Green Line-1.

This year, the fair will feature over 1,000 stalls, including those dedicated to little magazines. Sudhangshu Sekhar Dey, Honorary General Secretary of the Publishers & Booksellers Guild, said that the number of stalls has increased by 5-10% from the previous year. As a result, stall sizes have been adjusted to accommodate more publishers, ensuring greater participation.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will inaugurate this grand literary event on January 28 at 4 pm at the Boimela Prangan in Salt Lake. During the ceremony, she will present the prestigious Sahitya Samman, along with a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh, to celebrated Bengali author Abul Bashar. To continue till February 9, this globally renowned fair is the largest in terms of attendance. This year, it will host participants from around 20 countries.

This year marks a crucial change as the book fair becomes a true open-air event. Traditional halls for English-language publishers have been replaced with a dedicated ‘premier area,’ providing larger stalls and improved visibility.

For the first time, Germany will be the focal theme country of the Kolkata Book Fair. The fair will also pay tribute to celebrate the birth centenaries of Narayan Sanyal, Salil Chowdhury, Ritwik Ghatak, Tapan Sinha, and Arundhuti Debi, as well as the 125th birth anniversaries of Kazi Nazrul Islam and Jibanananda Das.