Camelot has emerged as the preferred bidder to continue running the National Lottery, seeing off a rival pitch by India's Sugal & Damani.

Camelot, which has so far run the lottery for 13 years, won its third licence to operate the national game on the belief that it was "slightly more generous to good causes" and there was a "strong possibility" the company would achieve higher sales.

Camelot expects to generate £79 billion worth of ticket sales under the new 10 year licence compared to Sugal & Damani which forecast sales of £63.9 billion.

Camelot is currently operating a seven year licence that runs until 2009. The company will then begin operating under the new licence that was awarded today which runs until 2019, by which date Camelot will have managed the National Lottery for 25 years since winning the first licence in 1994.

Anne Wright, the chair of the National Lottery Commission, said: “Following a hard-fought competition, and after the rigorous evaluation of two strong Bids, we have unanimously agreed to select Camelot Group plc as the preferred bidder for the third National Lottery Licence. In addition, we have decided to select Sugal & Damani UK Ltd as a reserve bidder.”

Robert Foster, the chairman of the Competition Project Board, said: “These were two strong bids and I would like to thank both Camelot Group plc and Sugal & Damani UK Ltd for the depth and quality of their submissions. Our job now is to finalise the details of the third licence, and to manage a smooth transition to the new licence.”

Camelot, owned by Royal Mail, De La Rue, maker of bank notes, Cadbury Schweppes, Thales and Japan's Fujitsu, first won the licence to operate the lottery back in 1994, winning out against seven other bidders.

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