The second Sangeet Awards, honouring excellence in Indian film and pop music on an international platform, will be held at the Oakland Arena near San Francisco on September 24.

As many as 24 awards will be presented in three main categories -- film music, critics awards in film music and Pop Music. The jury panel for the awards this year comprises of eminent personalities from the music and the film industry like Ramesh Sippy, Suresh Wadekar, Kavita Krishnamurthy, Shankar Mahadevan, Leslie Lewis, Ken Ghosh, Anubhav Sinha, Shiamak Davar and Sapna Mukherji.

Addressing a press conference here to announce the event, Sanjay Lal Managing director and CEO of Percept D'Mark (PDM) said that last year, the debut of the Sangeet awards, marked the largest international gathering ever for the Indian music fraternity, along with distinguished members from the film industry.

''This year we are taking the awards to the largest international hub of Indian film and music fans in the United States of America in order to promote and honour Indian musical talent on an even larger platform'', He added.

Superstar Shah Rukh Khan who was present at the press conference, said he would perform on stage during the event. ''Music is an integral part of Indian culture and cinema and such events are an appropriate platform to showcase the talent on the international arena in a much stronger way'', He said and added that he owed his success as an actor to the music in his films.

Shantonu Aditya CEO of Sahara One, promoters of the awards function said that his company's association with the awards was part of its efforts to bring innovative content to the viewers. PDM has collaborated with Mehta Entertainment, one of the leading entertainment companies in the US, as international partners.

Mr Deepak Mehta CEO of Mehta Entertainment said there have been innumerable celebrity concerts in America. But Sahara One Sangeet Awards is by far the biggest Indian entertainment extravaganza ever staged in the US.