Four cities identified as venues

INTERIM BUDGET & THE STATES/CONVENTION CENTERS

Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, while presenting the Interim Budget yesterday, said the government had decided upon the venues for four global standard international convention centres to be set up in the country.

These centres, to be established through public-private partnership, will be located in Delhi, Mumbai, Goa and Jaipur.

Singh said both Goa and Rajasthan had great tourism potential but needed more infrastructural facilities.

To make effective the functioning of the Jaipur convention centre, the Jaipur airport would be converted from a domestic to an international one, he added.

The finance minister said suitable facilities would be provided for holding of international film festivals at the Goa centre. "Details of these schemes will be worked out shortly," he added.

The idea of convention centres of global standards was first mooted by Singh in his budget speech for the year 2003-04.

He had then announced the setting up of two such centres though public-private partnership, with the government covering the viability funding gaps only.