project would require investment of Rs. 1125 million, of which 31.25 crore each will be provided by the central and state governments and the remaining Rs 50 crore will be mobilised via credit. The state government granted an in-principle approval for the project in 2012, but owing to the non-availability of funds it got delayed. Strategic Issues ITPO is operating a trade portal Trade Portal of India having all trade related information including country profiles, product profiles, trade directory etc. ITPO is networking with International Organisation in the field of Trade and Commerce through membership or collaborative arrangements such as Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), ITPO is a founder member of Asian Trade Promotion Forum (ATPF) and participates in its Annual meets regularly. Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) provide round-the-clock security at Pragati Maidan. Access control to the exhibitions area would also be monitored by another team of the squad with help from private security guards. ITPO signed MoU with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) to collaborate on trade promotion. ITPO also signed MoU with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in April 2011, directed towards a collective and well-directed effort to promote India's trade identifying the internal strengths of the respective organisations. ITPO signed MoU with National Book Trust (NBT), India for conducting New Delhi World Book Fair every year, starting from February 2013. In 2013, ITPO has commissioned the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) to construct a Business Confidence Index and a Consumer Confidence Index using data from ITPO's exhibitions. Karnataka Exhibition Authority (KEA) is in early discussions with ITPO to set up Pragati Haat in every district headquarters and one near Bangalore similar to that of Delhi's Pragati Maidan. KEA has sought 20 acres of land in each district and 70 acres of land near Bangalore for the purpose. As per Allocation of Business Rules (which describes distribution of subject amongst GoI's departments and ministries), ITPO's activities are now classified under Export Promotion, in place of the previous classification under State Trading. Commerce & Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman endorsed in September 2015 that ITPO is one of India's best agencies for international affairs and is on the verge of starting a major Convention Centre in Delhi as the capital does not have a venue where international conferences could be held. Financials ITPO has been upgraded to Mini-Ratna Category-1 by Department of Public Enterprises