India, Feb. 12 -- The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) on Tuesday kicked off the third edition of the annual tulip festival, planting 350,000 bulbs in multiple locations, majorly at Shanti Path in Chanakyapuri.

The festival was inaugurated on Tuesday by lieutenant governor VK Saxena and Dutch ambassador Marisa Gerards at Shanti Path.

Of the tulips planted this year, 325,000 were imported from The Netherlands. "Among the planted tulips, about 15,000 have been produced in Himachal Pradesh's Palampur. Our aim is to minimise the dependence on imports in the next four years. Each tulip plant is named 'maitri' due to the bond that has been formed with The Netherlands with this cooperation," an NDMC official said.

The festival will end on F...