Hyderabad: President Pranab Mukherjee will visit Hyderabad today (March 16) to inaugurate the fifth edition of ‘India Aviation 2016’, the international exhibition and conference on civil aviation, to be held at Begumpet Airport. The five-day (March 16 to 20) event has been organized by Ministry of Civil Aviation along with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

The President will be inaugurating India Aviation for the first time. He will formally inaugurate the event which will be attended by E S Lakshmi Narsimhan, Governor of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh; KCR, Chief Minister of Telangana; N Chandra Babu Naidu, CM of Andhra Pradesh, and Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati, Union Minister of Civil Aviation. Ambassadors from at least seven countries are expected to participate.

About 25 countries are taking part this time in the India Aviation show, being held with the theme of ‘India’s Civil Aviation Sector: Potential a Global Manufacturing & MRO Hub’. More than 200 major participants are expected to attend the show for which the US and Canada are partner countries.

Union civil aviation secretary Rajiv Nayan Choubey told Telangana chief secretary Rajeev Sharma to ensure that the ongoing work on the Hyderabad Metro Rail does not cause inconvenience to the VIPs and visitors for the aviation show.

Mr Mukherjee will also witness the aerobatic display as part of the event. He will return to Delhi after the event the same day.