New Delhi, Mar 4 (IANS): The 29th edition of the much-awaited New Delhi World Book Fair (NDWBF) will be held virtually this year from March 6-9. The virtual editions theme pavilion will be ‘National Education Policy 2020, the National Book Trust announced on Thursday.

The organisers said that over 15 countries, including the UK, the US, the UAE, China, France, Iran, Nepal, Spain, Sri Lanka, Ukraine and Italy will participate in the Foreign Publishers' Hall at the fair.

A series of programmes highlighting various aspects of NEP 2020 is scheduled to be organised during the NDWBF 2021 virtual edition "to discuss the dynamics of its implementation through publishing for various age-groups", the NBT said in a statement.

Discussions on education and pedagogy, conversations with authors, scholars, book release functions and cultural programmes will also be part of the fair.

"Over 160 publishers and exhibitors from India and abroad will participate in the fair through e-stalls, acquainting the visitors with books in all major Indian and foreign languages. The visitors will be able to visit the websites of the exhibitors or the publishers directly from the e-stalls to view more products," added NBT.

To purchase books, the visitors can add books to e-cart and get them delivered at their doorsteps after payment.

The fair will be inaugurated by Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank' in a virtual ceremony on March 5. Visitors can access the book fair on nbtindia.gov.in/ndwbf21 at any time on all four days.

The fair will be free for all the visitors, said the organisers.

The previous edition of the New Delhi World Book Fair took place in January 2020. It is going virtual this year due to the Covid induced restrictions that are in place.