Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will address Durga Puja organisers in the city on Tuesday, more than two months before the festival starts.

This year Durga Puja starts on October 9 (Shasthi).

Senior officials in the state government said Mamata wanted to hold the preparatory meeting earlier, compared with previous years, so the organisers face no problems while coordinating with police and other departments of the state administration.

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation, police, fire and emergency services, power and other departments have been asked to send representatives to the meeting.

Last year, the coordination meeting with the Puja organisers was held in August.

Mamata had announced in last year’s meeting that the state government grant to the organisers had been raised from ₹60,000 to ₹70,000.

There are close to 43,000 recognised Durga pujas in Bengal, of which around 3,000 are in Calcutta. In 2019, the British Council had done a research, led by Queen Mary University of London and supported by IIT Kharagpur.

The report, published in 2021, said the “economic worth of the creative industries around Durga Puja in West Bengal is ₹32,377 crore, which is the size of the economy of many smaller countries”.

Several Puja organisers Metro spoke to said the volume of business during the festival would be higher this year because of the enthusiasm that has started building up. Work on erecting pandals has started. At Kumartuli, idol makers said orders are pouring in.

“The chief minister is clear about the challenges that Puja organisers face. Every year, she meets our expectations without waiting for us to spell them out,” said Saswata Basu, secretary, Forum for Durgostav, an umbrella organisation of Durga Puja organisers in Calcutta.

“On Tuesday, all forum members will be eager to listen what message the chief minister has for us.”