IFFI 2017 wasn't funded by I&B ministry or Directorate of Film Festivals, says Pramod Sawant

Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry did not provide any financial assistance to the Goa government for hosting the 2017 edition of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), the Legislative Assembly was told on Monday. [caption id=“attachment_7112501” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Goa CM Pramod Sawant[/caption] In a written reply to a query submitted by Digambar Kamat of the Congress seeking details of the funding for the 2017 IFFI edition, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant stated no funds were received from the Information and Broadcasting ministry and the Directorate of Film Festivals that year. The state government had spent Rs 17.44 crore on hosting the event in 2017, it stated. Goa has been hosting the IFFI since 2004. As per the reply, the I&B ministry had contributed Rs 1.65 crore for the IFFI 2014, but didn’t pay anything in the next year. In 2016, however, the state government had received Rs 3.24 crore from the ministry. “Goa received Rs 67.15 lakh sponsorship for IFFI 2017 and Rs 47.45 lakh for the 2016 edition. An amount of Rs 17.44 crore was spent on hosting the IFFI 2017 and Rs 22.62 crore for the 2016 edition,” it stated.