IITs Saarang comes with Rs 1.6 crore price tag

CHENNAI: When they say that IIT-Madras’ annual cultural festival Saarang is getting bigger every year, they weren’t kidding. But the biggest leap this year is the budget that the five-day festival will cost. “This year’s Saarang, to be held at IIT-M from January 18-22, has a budget of Rs 1.6 crore, making it the most spent on a college fest,” announced one of the cultural convenors.This has been attributed to the increased prize money, more events and expensive performers for the much anticipated pro-shows.“This year, we’re not just looking to give the winners cash prizes alone but give the music competition winners and others a launchpad - so things like radio airplay for a year, classes with international music schools and recording deals are up for grabs,” said Prashant, another cultural secretary of Saarang 2012.In addition to the college cultural competitions and pro-shows, this year will see the formal transformation of the erstwhile international night into the World Cultural Festival where three French bands, a disc jockey (DJ) from Germany and a reggae group from Thailand will perform.