The APOGEE English Press interviewed Ahan Bansal, the President of the Students’ Union (SU) to gain insight into his work for APOGEE 2025.

Ahan began by pointing out that he was the CoStAAn of Finance and was thus responsible for allocating budgets to clubs and looking into the overall finances of the fest. He said that he started working with CoStAA in late December.

Talking about the challenges that came up, he said that due to the financial and budgetary constraints they were facing this year, it had taken a long time to organise everything for the fest.

When asked about the budget of the fest, Ahan stated that it would be published later officially. He revealed that there had been ‘a lot of back and forth’ concerning the finances of the fest. He said that one of the reasons for this was that technical events in APOGEE were revenue-burning instead of revenue-generating. Another major reason was the uncertainty surrounding the participation of the Department of Sponsorship and Marketing (Sponz).

Elaborating on Sponz having previously backed out of the fest, Ahan said that to consider their demand of being reinstated as a major department in Oasis, a section had been created that allowed for a probationary StuCCAn from Sponz, given enough votes were obtained in the ORC-UC (Oasis Review Committee and the Union Council) meet which was held on March 17, 2025. Ahan remarked that when Sponz did not get enough votes to have a probationary StuCCAn from the Union Council (UC), they subsequently “backed out”. However, Ahan divulged that they had rejoined and would resume all their operations. On being asked how Sponz had been convinced to do so, Ahan said that he would prefer not to answer.

Addressing the concerns regarding professional shows in APOGEE, he revealed that a ticketed concert would be held during the fest. Ahan added that there would be no deductions for this APOGEE, and assured that their current model projected “a little profit” after the fest.

Ahan said that many distinguished speakers would be coming in for the fest, and it would be a great learning experience for everyone. He added that there would be a ziplining event from Clock Tower to Rotunda as well as various events by different clubs. Concluding the interview, he encouraged BITSians to attend and enjoy the fest. He also thanked the coordinators of all clubs for being patient and cooperative throughout the process.