Jamshedpur, Nov. 10: Number of publishers participating in the 24th Annual Book Fair this year has increased but they are not hopeful of a brisk business.

Officials of Tagore Society, the organisers of the fair, say the economic crisis would have an impact on the sale as majority of the books are bought by corporate houses. The book fair is slated to in the steel city from November 14.

Last year, Tata Steel excluding its subsidiaries bought books worth Rs 80 lakh. But this year, the organisers are keeping their fingers crossed.

“Libraries along with corporate houses are our biggest buyers. Universities, schools and colleges constitutes a small portion of buyers. As most of the corporate houses are cutting on their cost, they may not turn up to buy books. This year the situation is dicey,” said Asis Chowdhury, the secretary of Tagore Society that organises the book fair.

Apart from fiction and non-fiction books in English and vernacular languages, text books for school students will also be available at the fair.

“Even if we make losses, we would not mind as our motto is to make the young people inculcate the habit of reading as there is no better good habit,” said Chowdhury.

The organisers have planned to arrange wheelchairs for elderly people as they cannot walk and visit all the kiosks.

“We took the decision because elderly people generally have difficulty in walking. Students will get concession in tickets. If they come in a group of 20-25 in their school uniforms tickets will be given to them for Rs 2. We have also instructed publishers to accept credit and debit cards,” said Alok Debdas, the president of the book fair committee.

There will also be a separate kiosk Sahyog dedicated to the authors of the state.

There will be an inter-school quiz on environment and cultural programmes organised during the fair.