New convention centre for IFFI in Goa by 2019: CM

Goa will get a full-fledged convention centre by 2019 to host the International Film Festival of India (IFFI), Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said on Thursday.

Around two lakh square metres of land had been transferred from the state government's land bank to the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG), co-host of the IFFI, for the convention centre, he said.

The prime real estate was lying idle ever since the government scrapped the setting up of the Rajiv Gandhi IT habitat at Dona Paula, one of the tony areas on the state capital's outskirts.

The proposed centre will be constructed on a public-private partnership basis under a revenue-sharing arrangement. It will include a 100-room hotel and adequate film screening facilities, Parsekar said.

Goa was chosen as a permanent venue for the IFFI in 2004. Since then, the festival has been held at a private multiplex built on government land here.

Delegates have consistently complained about the lack of screening facilities at the venue.

The ESG is a state agency which co-ordinates with the information and broadcasting ministry's directorate of film festivals to organise the event every year.

"The proposed convention centre will accommodate around 8,000 people and also house the permanent offices of the ESG and the directorate," the chief minister said.