A record 29 lakh people visited the International Calcutta Book Fair which concluded on January 31, an official of organisers said on Thursday.

The book fair recorded a sale of Rs 27 crore books which is higher than last year’s sales figure of Rs 25 crore and an all-time high in the history of the book fair, the official claimed.

"The book fair witnessed a growth in footfall, from 25 lakh last time, to 29 lakh this year which is also a record in the book fair history...," general secretary of Publishers and Booksellers Guild, the organisers of the fair, Sudhangshu Dey told PTI.

The book fair was held from January 18 to 31.

All the calculations were arrived at based on the updates till January 31 morning and the revised estimate will only be higher, he explained.

As an initiative to foster reading habits among bibliophiles and encourage them to go for printed text, the guild felicitated one reader who purchased books worth Rs 3,15,000.

The reader Debabrata Chatterjee sustains his livelihood as a private tutor.

Senior guild official and one of the owners of Dey's Publishing Apu Dey said: "The Calcutta book fair will continue thriving on those readers who will always opt for the printed matters, would like to feel the physical smell of books and walk the extra mile to buy their favourite title from the stall.

Dey told PTI a large chunk of the book sale consisted of literary works and classics here unlike reference books and texts in other book fairs.

This was the 47th edition of the book fair "and we will be coming up with new initiatives to help the book-loving people of this state including senior citizens come and visit the fair and soak the ambience in a better and more inclusive way in its 48th edition, guild president Tridib Chatterjee said.

"This time to enhance the digitisation of the book fair, we provided maps and QR codes, facilitating easy online access for attendees. Additionally, we dedicated a day to senior citizens. We witnessed a significant increase in footfall compared to last year," he said.

To a question, Chatterjee said the 48th International Calcutta book fair will be held in January 2025 and the exact dates will be announced later on factoring in different aspects including the schedule of international participants and other international book fairs.

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