The next licence to run the National Lottery will be awarded on Tuesday with Indian firm Sugal & Damani hoping to unseat incumbent operator Camelot.
Camelot has won the latest licence to run the UK's National Lottery, seeing off competition from Indian company Sugal & Damani.
The licence, the third in the lottery's history, will come into effect in February 2009 and last for 10 years.
The licence, the third in the lottery's history, will come into effect in February 2009 and last for 10 years.
Camelot, which has run the Lottery since its launch in 1994, faces competition from Sugal & Damani, which operates lotteries across India.
Camelot has run the National Lottery since its launch in 1994.
The winner must show it can deliver the maximum amount of cash for good causes.
As well as providing a broad range of games for people to play, lottery operators must also generate as much cash as possible for good causes.
New plans
Camelot saw off competition from the People's Lottery, a consortium headed by Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson, to win the existing seven-year licence from 2002.
This time around, Camelot is promising to launch the world's first global lottery draw as part of its package of games, which will create up to 100 millionaires every month.
Sugal & Damani, which has run state lotteries in India for 30 years, says it will give retailers greater incentives to sell tickets and offer new games and prizes to players.
More than £20bn has been raised for good causes since 1994
The successful bidder will have to show it can manage the transition to the next licence smoothly, a requirement experts believe could favour Camelot.
"Ultimately, the licence will be awarded to the bidder that is able to support the greatest forecast returns to good causes whilst demonstrating that they can meet other required standards," the National Lottery Commission, the lottery regulator, said.
Total spending on lottery tickets fell last year from £5.01bn to £4.91bn while money raised for good causes also dropped from £1.29bn to £1.24bn.
But the total number of tickets bought was higher than in each of the previous four years.
Besides its other responsibilities, the next Lottery operator will be expected to hit targets for raising funds for the 2012 Olympics.
About £2.2bn is currently earmarked from Lottery funds for the Games, with £750m expected to come from specially-designated games.
