West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurated the 47th Kolkata International Book Fair, recognized as the world's largest book fair, on Thursday.
The Bangladesh Pavilion in the fair will host over 50 publishing houses from Bangladesh.
"Honoured to receive Kabitabitan – a book of poems written by Mamata Banerjee at the inauguration of International Kolkata Book Fair. The UK is the main partner this year," Alex Elis, British high commissioner to India, wrote in an X post after the inauguration.
"She expressed her love for walking in London and plans to visit there once more and other parts of the UK soon," Dr Andrew Fleming, British deputy high commissioner to East and North East India in Kolkata, wrote in his X post earlier Thursday evening.
Over 1,000 stalls will be set up, the Publishers and Booksellers Guild, the organizer of the fair informed.
The Visva-Bharati bookstall of the prestigious Visva-Bharati University has returned to the fair premises after two year's absence.
Prominent publishing houses and publishers from 20 countries will display their titles in the high-spirited festival, sources told Dhaka Tribune.
The book fair in the Central Park, Salt Lake area has attracted over 2 million attendees over the years. The frequency of metro and bus services has been increased because of high traffic and attendance in the book fare, which also boasts to be the largest celebration in the city after Durga Puja.