Mumbai: Fortune, the recently launched online lottery brand in India, has decided to telecast live the weekly draws of the Fortune Lotto on NDTV India, the Hindi news channel from Dr Prannoy Roy''s New Delhi Television Ltd (NDTV) stable.

The online lottery brand Fortune, of Essar Teleholdings in association with Computer Aided Information and Research Services Private Limited (CAIRS), is the sole distributor and marketing agent for the online lottery organised and promoted by the Nagaland state.

The results of the inaugural Fortune Lotto game will be telecast on 24 May 2003 at 10 pm from a studio in Kohima, Nagaland, by NDTV India throughout the country. The draw will be aired every Saturday at 10 pm on NDTV India to announce the weekly results of the Fortune Lotto game.

Six winning numbers for the week''s Fortune Lotto game, in addition to a bonus ball (named the Fortune Ball), will be picked through India''s only Venus Lotto drawing machine. The Venus Lotto machine has been specially imported by Fortune from Editec, Fortune''s technology partner.

Commenting on the choice of NDTV India as the channel for its draws, Vikash Saraf, CEO, Essar Teleholdings, says: "Fortune and NDTV India start out on a common aim to be the best in their respective domains. The perfect match between our consumer profiles and NDTV India''s audience makes this an ideal platform to address our target audience. The reach and popularity of the channel will enable our players to find out the winning numbers, and with a prize structure that makes people more likely to win than any other lottery in India, that is an important service."