Odisha: Cuttack Bali Yatra records highest-ever footfall

Bhubaneswar: A record number of 86 lakh people visited this year’s Bali Yatra in Odisha’s Cuttack city.

The nine-day-long trade fair, organized on the banks of Mahanadi river in the Silver City, concluded yesterday.

“Around 86 lakh people thronged this year’s Cuttack Bali Yatra, the biggest trade fair in Odisha. This is the highest-ever footfall recorded at the fair,” said a source in the Cuttack district administration.

The business transactions at this year’s Bali Yatra crossed Rs 200 crore, which is 30 per cent more in comparison to last year’s figure of 150 crore, it added.

Around 2,000 vending stalls had come up at Bali Yatra fair grounds this year. Besides, the tunnel aquarium, Cuttack in Cuttack enclave depicting rural life, an exclusive art gallery and a series of cultural events including Ollywood and Bollywood nights were the main attractions of the trade fair, sources said.

The Odisha Rural Development and Marketing Society (ORMAS) had opened around 400 stalls at Bali Yatra. These stalls have recorded business worth around Rs 35 crore, sources said.

“The ORMAS stalls had recoded business worth around Rs 24 crore at last year’s Bali Yatra. Their sales figure went up by around 50 per cent this year,” said a source.

The Mission Shakti Self-Help Groups (SHGs) had opened around 60 stalls at the fair and they have done business worth Rs 2 crore as per the preliminary assessment, it added.

The trade fair, which celebrates the glorious maritime history of Odisha, was inaugurated on the occasion of Kartika Purnima on November 27. The fair was supposed to conclude on December 4.

However, the fair was extended by a day by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik as per the request of Cuttack Mayor Subhash Singh.