Publishers from over 20 countries will set up stalls in the 44th edition of Calcutta Book Fair, which will be inaugurated on January 29 and will continue till February 9.

Authors from Australia, Spain, Scotland, Costa Rica and Guatemala and Bangladesh have confirmed their participation, officials of the Publishers and Booksellers Guild, the organisers of the annual event, said on Wednesday.

This year the theme country is Russia. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will inaugurate the fair, to be held at Salt Lake Central Park, on January 29 in the presence of the Russian ambassador to India, Kudashev Nikolay Rishatovich.

The guild will organise “Book Bumper Library lottery” on four days. The five lucky winners on each day will get a gift coupon of Rs 25,000 each.

“There will be a CESC corner for eminent guests at the fair. A daily lottery will be held there and CESC will distribute ‘book Gift Coupons’ worth Rs 15,000 to every winner,” said Sudhangshu Sekhar Dey, the general secretary of the guild.

The fair ground will have nine gates and the theme gate will be a replica of the iconic Bolshoi theatre in Moscow. Two big halls, meant mostly for English publications, will be named after Nabanita Dev Sen and Girish Karnad.

There will be around 600 bookstalls and another 200 stalls for little magazines.

“The transport department will deploy around 400 buses that will ferry book lovers from various destinations to the fair venue and back. All major destinations are being covered with the bus services. The bus movements will be available on the Pathadisha bus-app,” transport minister Suvendu Adhikari said.

The buses will travel between Central Park and Sealdah, Howrah, Shakuntala Park, Joka, Thakurpukur, Garia, Kamalgazi, Jadavpur, Barrackpore, Chiria More, Ultadanga, Barasat and Habra, among other places.

Special shuttle services will be available from Sealdah, Kamalgazi, Tollygunge Metro, Rathtala (Dunlop) and Ultadanga

The special buses, for which dedicated terminuses have been set up at Karunamoyee and near Mayukh Bhawan, will ply between 3pm and 9pm.

“The auto fares from various destinations to the fair ground have been fixed in consultation with the Bidhannagar police commissionerate and auto operators,” said Tridib Chatterjee, the president of the guild.