Team Herald
PANJIM: A world-class permanent venue with convention centre and cinema theaters for hosting the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) has been proposed at Dona Paula by 2019, at the controversial IT Habitat project site. The IT Habitat was proposed in 2006 and now stands stalled.
The State cabinet on Thursday granted its nod for transfer of 2.97 lakh sq mtrs of land from InfoTech Corporation of Goa Limited to Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) for construction of permanent venue for hosting IFFI.
“The target date for construction of permanent facilities will be 2019, when Goa will host the 50th IFFI,” Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar told media
persons.
The facilities will include convention centre, cinema theaters, hotel with 1000-plus rooms, office of Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF), office of ESG and other required infrastructure related to the event.
The Chief Minister said that the infrastructure facilities will be as per international standards.
“The event being an international event as more than 89 countries participated in the film festival last year, and Goa being a permanent venue for IFFI, it is necessary to have permanent infrastructure in place. The area where the proposed project is planned was initially awarded for IT Habitat in 2006,” Parsekar said.
The Rajiv Gandhi IT Habitat project, which had been ridden with controversies since its inception, was stalled in December 2007 due to violent protests by locals and later abandoned in the middle of infrastructure development. The BJP-government after coming to power in 2012 had cancelled all the land
allotments.
IFFI is being held in Goa since 2004, with the State declared a permanent venue in 2014.
