Delhi is one of the few cities of the world that can boast of being both ancient and modern. A cultural mosaic and a confluence of different religions, it is also an ever-expanding modern city. There are many places of historical interest in and around Delhi . The capital of India , the city is also the nerve-centre of Indian publishing.

The publishing scenario in contemporary India is conceptually exciting and linguistically and quantitatively diverse. India is perhaps the only country in the world which publishes books in 24 languages. It ranks third in the publication of English books after the USA and the UK . More than 70,000 new titles are published every year out of which 20,000 are in the English language.

Indian books have earned worldwide respect and commercial acceptability both for their contents and quality of production. Their price, too, is reader friendly. Many Indian books are especially designed to meet the educational requirements of the Afro-Asian and SAARC countries.

While offering a glimpse of the multilingual publishing industry in India which has developed substantially in recent years the New Delhi World Book fair serves to establish fruitful communication among publishers, booksellers, book distributors, librarians, professionals, intellectuals and academicians.

During the 16th New Delhi World Book fair, organised by the NBT in 2004, 1250 participants from 18 countries participated. Over a million booklovers visited the fair.

The New Delhi World Book Fair also offers an opportunity for the exchange of translation/co-publishing/reprint rights.

The National Book Trust established in 1957 for the promotion of books and to inculcate book culture in India organizes book fairs/festivals at local, regional and national levels.

The National Book Trust, India is pleased to announce that the 17th New Delhi World Book Fair will be held from 27 January to 4 February 2006 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi . The theme of the 17th New Delhi World Book Fair is Composite Culture in a Multicultural Society.