The 48th edition of the Calcutta Book Fair will start on January 28 and continue till February 9, senior officials of the Publishers and Booksellers Guild said on Friday.

It will be held at Boimela Prangan in Central Park in Salt Lake. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will inaugurate the fair. Germany is the theme country this year.

Guild officials said the idea of organising the first Calcutta Book Fair in 1976 came from Frankfurt Book Fair.

“In 1984 and 2006, when India was the Theme Country of Frankfurt Book Fair, the Publishers and Booksellers Guild participated as the representative organisation of publishers and authors of eastern India,” said Sudhangshu Dey, Guild’s general secretary.

“The book sales last year amounted to ₹23 crore. Many new publishers have submitted applications to participate,” said Tridib Chatterjee, Guild’s president.

“Since the size of the fairground remains the same the number of stalls cannot be increased. We are planning to make the fairground more visitor-friendly,” he said.

A logo of the fair with Germany as the theme country was unveiled on Friday. Among those present were Simon Kleinpass, vice consul of Germany in Calcutta and Astrid Wege, director, Goethe Institute, Calcutta.

Like every year, Britain, the US, France, Italy, Spain, Peru, Argentina, Colombia and other Latin American countries will participate.

Publishers from several states, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Bihar, Assam, Jharkhand, Telangana, Kerala and Odisha will also take part in the fair.