The venue was the problem. Now it’s the money.

The Publishers and Booksellers Guild, which has finally settled for Milon Mela as the venue for the book fair, is complaining about the money it has been asked to shell out for using the Bypass site.

The West Bengal Trade Promotion Organisation, the custodian of Milon Mela, has asked the Guild for Rs 1.5 crore for hosting Book Fair 2009.

The “staggering amount”, though at a 25 per cent discount, has prompted the Guild to appeal to the state industrial development corporation, under which the trade body functions, for a concession. “If the amount is not considered (lowered), it will be difficult for us to hold the annual fair,” said Tridib Chatterjee, the general secretary of the Guild.

“The state government will have to take a call. We are in the final phase of preparations for holding the fair at Milon Mela. Around 800 applications have already reached us and no other site is now available for the fair.”

Book Fair 2009, if held off the Bypass, will be spread across 17.6 acres.

Till 2006, it used to be held across 23 acres on the Maidan, for which the government did not charge any rent and for which the Guild fought battles in court and outside when it was legally prevented from organising it there. The only payments the Guild made for hosting a purely commercial venture on a public property were to the police, CESC and the Calcutta Municipal Corporation.

On a pro rata basis, the government could have earned around Rs 2 crore a year when the venue was the Maidan. Or even more, considering the market value of the site off the Park Street crossing.

The Guild, however, has its explanations for why it has sought a concession. Members said they were not willing to increase the entry fee, had plans to arrange for transport for book lovers from various points across the city and had to spend Rs 46 lakh to doll up the ground for the fair.