With no major New Year events planned, Goa govt says fee

With no big-ticket entertainment event scheduled for New Year in Goa, the state government Friday said it could reconsider the fees levied on them in case organisers sought a reduction.

The state, among the most vibrant in terms of parties and events to ring in the New Year, has no electronic dance music (EDM) festival, a regular feature since 2006, this time.

Several event organisers claimed that a steep rise in permission fees levied by the state Tourism department and by the Home department for police protection have played dampener.

The permission fee for having an event of this magnitude in Goa has been hiked to Rs 1 crore, they said.

"If there is any demand from organisers of EDM or other events that the fee should be reduced, we are ready to consider it. We need a formal request, Till now, however, no one has come forward with such a request," Goa Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar told PTI.

Agreeing that these fees were a drawback, Ajgaonkar said, "I had spoken to the Chief Minister asking him to reconsider the fee being charged to provide police protection for such events."