Govt, Kurukshetra Development Board aim at making Gita Mahotsav self-sustainable, 40 lakh footfall expected

Advertisement

Kurukshetra, November 20

The Kurukshetra Development Board and the state government now want to make the the International Gita Mahotsav self-sustainable. The festival started as Gita Jayanti Samaroh, a two-day Kurukshetra Mahotsav, in 1989-90 but now, it has turned into a full-fledged festival. Lakhs of tourists and visitors reach here during the mahotsav and the craftsmen and traders do a brisk business here. This year, the KDB is expecting the footfall to remain around 40 lakh. Around 600 stalls have been setup in the Saras and Crafts Fair being organised as part of the IGM.

Rs 1.5 crore revenue generated

The objective behind focusing on revenue generation is to make the mahotsav self-sustainable, and not to reap profits. So far, the board has generated a revenue of over Rs 1.5 crore, which is higher than the previous year. Madan Mohan Chhabra, honorary secretary, KDB

As per the information, so far, the board was focusing on increasing the scale, but now it aims at generating revenue too. This year, the board has generated a revenue of over Rs 1.5 crore from the stalls, food courts and rides setup for visitors and tourists. An official said, “Like previous occasions, the North Zone Cultural Centre has allotted a majority of the stalls for which Rs 10,000 was charged per stall. For the first time, the board has allotted nearly 65 stalls, and Rs 30,000 extra were charged for prime locations. Besides this, 22 commercial shops were auctioned and the revenue from the food courts and the amusement rides was higher than the previous occasions.”

“Not only on generating revenue but focus is on decreasing the expenses too. There are directions to cut down expenses on gifting mementoes, shawls and other avoidable items. This year no multimedia show has been arranged at the Brahma Sarovar on which over Rs 50 lakh used to be spent. While nearly Rs 7 crore was spent on the celebrations in 2019, the board is now making efforts to cut down the expenses by almost 50 per cent this year”, the official said.