PANAJI: A joint press conference convened by the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) Secretariat and the Entertainment Society of Goa on Friday, revealed that the 42nd edition of the mega film festival, slated to open at the Ravindra Bhavan on November 23 will cost the organisers around ` 10 crore.

The director of IFFI secretariat, Mr Shankar Mohan and the CEO of the ESG, Mr Manoj Srivastava, who introduced around dozen prominent sponsors of the 11-day event to the media said that around ` 2 crore would be raised through barter terms as well as cash from these sponsors, while the Union Ministry of Tourism, which is the principal sponsor of the IFFI 2011 will significantly contribute a cash component of ` 2.7 crore.

Stating that the sponsors, in reality are the partners of the mega film festival, Mr Srivastava said that this partnership is sustainable as well as mutually beneficial, helping both sides to grow together, besides helping in the development of the festival.

Mr Mohan, on the other hand said that sponsorship is a global phenomenon, a model well accepted internationally, and fund does not form the focus of sponsorship, as it is a joint effort to ensure that there is a public private partnership in the event.

The sponsors of the IFFI 2011 include UB Group, Nestle, 92.7 Big FM, Lalit Golf and Spa Resort, Goa, Qatar Airways, Salgaocar Sanchar, Hindustan Petroleum, State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, BSNL and Bank of Maharashtra, besides technical giants like Dolby, Barco
and Real Image.

Mr Mohan said that the sponsors, especially the technical people will not only help the IFFI 2011 financially, but also provide technical knowledge, manpower and equipment, which otherwise would have cost a fortune to the organisers of the mega film event, as this film festival is technology oriented with screening of the 3-D films as well as animation movies. He also informed that All India Radio and Doordarshan are the official media partners of IFFI.

A representative of Qatar Airways said that the airline company would be providing air tickets worth Rs 8 lakh to the celebrity invitees at the IFFI 2011, besides maintaining two lounges at the IFFI venue at Panaji, one named after the famed actor-director, Raj Kapoor and another one, an actors’ lounge. "In fact, Qatar Airways has signed a 3-year contract with the ESG," he added.