With more sponsors, Kolkata set to celebrate a grander Durga Puja this time

The biggest festival in Kolkata is all set to have more glitz this year with the average budget of Durga Puja committees going up by 8-12 per cent, thanks to higher sponsorship.

Festivities had been affected last year due to demonetisation, goods and services tax and multiple chit fund scams, which affected sponsorships to Puja committees.

The difference will show this year, various puja committees said. For Santosh Mitra Square, in central Kolkata, which enters its 83rd year, the organisers are putting up a pandal in the shape of a chariot made of pure silver. “We came up with an innovative concept and pitched the idea to Senco Gold and Diamond, who agreed,” Sajal Ghose, general secretary of Santosh Mitra Square Puja Committee, said.

The sponsor has already submitted a Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) for a Rs 5 billion IPO and Ghose expects the silver chariot, being constructed at a whopping Rs 400 million, to add to the company’s publicity.

“The chariot will certainly be a crowd puller,” he said.

The committee has increased its budget by nine per cent to Rs 17 million, one of the highest in the city and is also considering auctioning VIP entry passes to its the pandal and selling tickets to the public for darshan of the idol.

The major Puja committees have not only been able to hold on to the traditional big spenders from the fast moving consumer sector such as HUL, Pepsi, Coca Cola, Walls, ITC, Berger Paints, Emami and others, banks like the State Bank of India, the IndusInd Bank and infrastructure companies such as Dalmia Bharat have also been very active in recent times during this festive season.

Despite the advertising budget now spread over different medium like billboards, print ad, TV commercials, social media and others, companies continue to maintain their spends during the Durga Puja.

“Huge crowds during the Durga Puja help increase visibility. Despite advertisers like us focusing on emerging media, this festive season holds much relevance,” Abhijit Roy, managing director and CEO, at Berger Paints said.

Berger Paints has kept its budgets similar to last year and has come up with a special jingle for the festival. Brindaban Matri Mandir, which has been celebrating Durga Puja for 109 years, has added playing of sponsors’ jingles on the loudspeaker to its list of deliverables, as companies have been asking for value addition apart from the usual display sponsorships.

The Ekdalia Evergreen. Photo: Subrata Majumder

The iconic Ahiritola Sarbojanin Durgotsab Samity in north Kolkata has teamed up with Anjali Jewellers for sponsorship of the jewellery which will be used to decorate the Durga idol.

For Ahiritola, which always relies on corporate sponsorships for the Puja, the budget has seen an over 10 per cent jump this time at Rs 5 million, with HUL, Dalmia Bharat, Anjali Jewellers and others, leading the race of sponsorships.

“Advertisers have been spending a lot on social and digital platforms. However, they cannot overrule the visibility a brand gets during Durga Puja celebrations. We have upped the budget to keep up with rising costs,” Dulal Seal, joint organising secretary at Ahiritola, said.

Various committees have been innovating to attract more sponsors.

For example, Ballygunge Cultural Association in south Kolkata has come up with partnership proposals like bhog partner, sindur khela partner (a traditional game of playing with vermillion by Bengali women on the last day of the Puja) and others to rope in sponsors, assuring them higher visibility towards a targeted audience.

Amitava Sinha, president of the association, said that corporate sponsors now want “quality audience who have requisite purchasing power”.

It has upped its spend by 12 per cent this year while Ballygunj Sarbojonin Durgotsav Samity, which is credited to have built the world’s tallest Durga idol of 100 feet in 2015, has increased its budget by eight per cent to Rs 5.5 million.

This year is seeing a rebound for puja committee after the blues of demonetisation and goods and services tax, which had hit budgets last year. Other factors, such as chit fund scams, hit the puja committees hard, as some of those firms were the biggest sponsors of various Durga Pujas.

Various organsiers tried to fill in the vacuum with corporate sponsorships, but failed, as most of the corporate houses have a dedicated ratio of the income they can spend on advertising and marketing.