Di­vali Na­gar 2025 is ex­pect­ed to cost $3.5 mil­lion, and the Na­tion­al Coun­cil of In­di­an Cul­ture (NCIC) is ap­peal­ing for at least $1 mil­lion in state fund­ing to help cov­er the ex­pens­es.

The an­nounce­ment was made by new­ly elect­ed NCIC Pres­i­dent, Su­ru­jdeo Man­ga­roo, dur­ing the of­fi­cial launch of Na­gar 2025 at the or­gan­i­sa­tion’s head of­fice in Ch­agua­nas on Wednes­day.

Re­spond­ing to ques­tions, Man­ga­roo not­ed that in 2024 the for­mer PNM ad­min­is­tra­tion pro­vid­ed $500,000 to as­sist with the stag­ing of the nine-day fes­ti­val. He said the NCIC bare­ly broke even last year.