Alappuzha (Kerala) | The 72nd edition of the famed Nehru Trophy Boat Race will be held on August 22 as scheduled, with organisers approving a budget of over Rs 6 crore for the event, officials said on Monday.
A statement issued by the Nehru Trophy Boat Race (NTBR) Society said the decision was taken at its first general body meeting of the year held at the Collectorate Conference Hall here under the leadership of MPs K C Venugopal and Kodikunnil Suresh on Monday.
NTBR Society chairman and District Collector Shaji V Nair presided over the meeting.
The NTBR is one of Kerala's most celebrated sporting and cultural events, in which traditional boats, including the iconic snake boats, compete for the trophy instituted by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
The event, held on the picturesque Punnamada Lake, attracts thousands of spectators and tourists from across India and abroad every year.
Venugopal said the race has an emotional association with Nehru and ideally should be conducted on the second Saturday of August.
However, he said changing the date at this stage would create practical difficulties for boat clubs and committees that had already begun preparations based on the earlier announcement.
Therefore, it was decided to retain August 22 as the date for this year's event, he added.
Kodikunnil Suresh said all stakeholders, including the NTBR Society and government departments, should work together to make the water festival a grand success.
The meeting approved a budget of Rs 6.04 crore for the 2026 race.
Organisers expect to raise Rs 3.5 crore through sponsorships, while anticipating Rs 1 crore in grants from the state tourism department and Rs 50 lakh from the Centre's tourism ministry.
Revenue of Rs 90 lakh is expected through ticket sales and Rs 10 lakh through anchoring charges, the statement said.
An amount of Rs 1.65 crore has been earmarked as bonus for participating teams.
Other allocations include Rs 60 lakh for infrastructure, Rs 36 lakh towards maintenance grants for 2024 and 2025, Rs 15 lakh for cultural programmes, Rs 9 lakh for publicity and Rs 8.25 lakh as prize money, officials said.
The statement said that the meeting authorised the District Collector to identify chief guests for the inaugural function. It was also decided to retain existing ticket rates and invite tenders for sponsorships.
Conveners for various sub-committees and the internal audit committee were also appointed at the meeting.
Former MLAs A A Shukoor, C K Sadasivan and K K Shaju, Additional District Magistrate C Premji, Deputy Collector Kala Bhaskar, Irrigation Executive Engineer P S Vinod, Deputy Superintendent of Police Gilson Mathew, Chundan Vallam Owners Association president R K Kurup and officials from various departments attended the meeting.
