A travel advisory has been issued, hotel charges have soared, and lawyers have been allowed to appear virtually in courts ahead of the five-day AI Impact Summit, which will see global leaders and industry heavyweights descend on New Delhi on Monday.
Top leaders from around 20 countries, delegates, industry bigwigs and policymakers are scheduled to attend the summit to be held at Bharat Mandapam from February 16-20.
Given the event's scale and profile, traffic around the venue and its adjoining areas will be strictly regulated.
Delhi police have issued a traffic advisory, stating that elaborate arrangements have been made to ensure hassle-free vehicular movement in view of the summit as well as the CBSE exams set to begin from Tuesday.
According to the advisory, essential services, including medical emergency vehicles, will be granted uninterrupted access and priority passage, while commuters will be directed towards designated alternative routes and transport modes. Certain stretches have been identified as restricted zones during VVIP movements.
The Supreme Court and Delhi High Court, located close to the Bharat Mandapam premises, have allowed lawyers to appear through video-conference if they face difficulty appearing in person due to traffic congestion.
Hotels in the national capital have witnessed a surge in bookings for the middle of this month, coinciding with the summit.
Rikant Pittie, CEO and co-founder of EaseMyTrip, said large-scale global events typically trigger a short-term surge in business travel, particularly benefiting premium and upscale hotel segments.
“On our platform, we have observed a 20-25 per cent increase in searches and bookings for hotels across the Delhi-NCR region for mid-February compared to the beginning of the month, aligning with the India AI Impact Summit,” Pittie said.
“Dynamic pricing is a common industry response during periods of heightened demand, such as international summits, exhibitions and marquee corporate events. With multiple high-profile gatherings scheduled in Delhi this month, we are witnessing a noticeable upward movement in average room rates across select luxury and upper-upscale properties, with price increases trending in the double-digit range,” he added.
A spokesperson for the Hotel Association of India (HAI) confirmed an escalation in booking prices in the national capital, but denied media reports that quoted room rates of some five-star hotels in lakhs. According to the HAI, a quick check with some member hotels revealed that the weighted average room rates are ranging between ₹40,000 and ₹60,000 per night during the summit.
However, the EaseMyTrip website revealed that a room at The Park Hotel was priced at ₹89,100 per night, while ITC Maurya listed a Monday night stay at ₹38,180. The Park is charging ₹15,444, and ITC Maurya ₹21,620 for the same booking made a month later.
The summit will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at 5pm. It will serve as a national demonstration of AI in action, where policy meets practice, innovation meets scale and technology meets the everyday citizen, the PMO said in a statement.
“Spread across 10 arenas covering more than 70,000 square metres, the expo will bring together global technology firms, startups, academia and research institutions, Union ministries, state governments, and international partners,” the statement said.
The expo will also feature 13 country pavilions, showcasing international collaboration in the AI ecosystem. These include pavilions from Australia, Japan, Russia, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Serbia, Estonia, Tajikistan and Africa.
It will host over 300 curated exhibition pavilions and live demonstrations, structured across three thematic chakras — people, planet and progress, the statement said.
In addition, the summit will feature over 600 high-potential startups, many of them building globally relevant and population-scale solutions. Over 500 sessions will be organised, featuring more than 3,250 visionary speakers and panel members, it said.
