New Delhi: The venue of the next Group of Twenty (G20) Summit in New Delhi in September under India’s Presidency was inaugurated today by the host country’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

Built at a cost of about Indian rupees 27 billion (US$329 million) and spread over 53,399 square metres, the new International Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre (IECC), has a seating capacity for 7,000 people.

It will henceforth serve as India’s largest Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) destination, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a background note on the new complex. “It is designed to host large-scale international exhibitions, trade fairs, conventions, conferences, and other prestigious events.”

Modi said the IECC was among the “new facilities that were built in many cities for the G20 meetings even as old facilities were modernised. We did not confine G20 to just one city or one place. We took the G20 meetings to more than 50 cities in the country".

The IECC has been designed in shape of a conch shell while its walls and facades depict elements of India's traditional art and culture. These include sun power highlighting India’s efforts to harness solar energy, space research celebrating achievements in space and the five foundations of the universe – sky, air, fire, water and earth. Paintings and tribal art forms from different regions of the country adorn the facades of the IECC.