New Delhi: The first of its kind NRI Festival had a gala launch in Delhi with many foreign delegations being associated with the six-month long event.
NRI committees from the US, the UK and the Middle East are enthusiastic about the festival being dedicated to the diaspora community and expressed confidence that there would be a large influx of people, particularly from these three regions, which together holds more than 70 per cent of the total Indian diaspora population.
Special committee members have been appointed to coordinate with the Indian diaspora population world over for the various events being organised till December 2022.
The festival is being organised by Rejoice Health Foundation in association with Power Sportz TV, and is being held to celebrate 75 years of India’s Independence, commemorating it in the form of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebrations.
The function saw the display of logos of various ministries associated with the festival, along with the logo of the NRI Festival, which was launched recently by Minister of State for Tourism, Shripad Naik.
India has the largest diaspora population in the world and under the current BJP regime, they occupy a very important place in the positioning of the country’s image globally.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently addressed a mega diaspora event in Munich, Germany, on his visit for the G7 Summit, where he hailed the power of Indian democracy. He has often referred to the Indian diaspora population as the country’s ‘Cultural Ambassadors’.
The Munich meeting was the largest meeting of the Indian community post the pandemic and was held at the Audi Dome venue.
But the clamour here seems to be more around sponsorship for the events. A large number of sports events are being organised by Power Sportz and the finalised ones are women’s kabaddi, cricket and marathon. These events are ensuring NRI participation along with marquee international players alongside large NRI in-stadia spectatorship.
Special stands are being erected in the pavilion areas for the NRI community coming to watch these events. With the apparel partners, fantasy partners, and most team and on-ground sponsors having already been sold out, the competition seems intense for the title cponsor.
Two large conglomerates, both in the retail segment, operating in the Indian subcontinent and the Middle Eastern region seem to be in the fray for the title sponsorship of all the events, though no confirmation has been announced by the organisers as yet.
Other large infrastructure groups down south, particularly from the Telangana region, also seem to be showing interest.
On an average from 2014 to 2020, around six million NRIs have visited India every year. But in 2020, the global Covid-19 pandemic disrupted travel across the globe and the numbers fell significantly with only around 3.6 million NRIs arriving in India.
The months from July to December have always seen the maximum inflow of NRIs in India. The festival is being held in the same period and with the pandemic in a controllable level now, the NRI Festival is expecting a large diaspora influx for the various events that are being organised.
The venues have been finalised for the events in the first three months, focusing primarily on Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana in the North and Goa towards the South.
A press conference is likely to be held shortly to brief about the various events, but confirmed sources indicate that a women’s kabaddi league would be the first event which would see most ‘A’ category women kabaddi players participate in it. Most probably, it is going to held in the National Capital Region.
New venues are likely to be added on, as the festival and the events under it run till December 2022. All the sports events are going to be streamed live on Power Sportz, and there would be simultaneous content sharing across various broadcast platforms, both in India and globally.
–IANS