Dubai: The BCCI is expecting the two new IPL franchises to go for Rs 7,000 crore to Rs 10,000 crore each after the bidding process begins here Monday. It is still not clear whether the BCCI will announce the successful bidders Monday itself after doing the technical evaluation of the bids.
There are 22 companies which have picked up tender document worth Rs 10 lakh but with base price for new teams pegged at INR 2000 crore, there is expected to be only five to six serious bidders in fray.
The BCCI is also allowing a consortium of up to three companies/individuals to bid for a franchise. However, in case of an individual or company, that particular entity’s annual turnover should be minimum Rs 3,000 crore and in case of consortium, each of the three entities should have an annual turnover of Rs 2,500 crore.
In this scenario, one of India’s richest business tycoon Gautam Adani and his Adani Group are expected to bid for the Ahmedabad franchise. Adani Group, if they finally put up a bid, is the favourite to own a new franchise.
Similarly, RPSG group which is headlined by billionaire Sanjiv Goenka is also considered to be serious bidders for a new franchise. Whether RPSG would have any individual or other company as a part of consortium is still not known.
“Gautam Adani and Sanjiv Goenka are the biggest names in the Indian industry. They will be serious bidders. Expect a minimum bid of Rs 3,500 crore from the potential bidders. Don’t forget that IPL broadcast rights are projected around USD 5 billion (Rs 36,000 Crore). So the economics will work accordingly as franchises get the TV revenue share equally,” a BCCI insider tracking the developments said Sunday on conditions of anonymity.
For the record, Goenka owned the Pune Franchise Rising Pune Supergiants (RPS) for two years and is also the owner of ISL franchise ATK Mohun Bagan.
The other notable companies which are in fray comprise Kotak group, pharmaceutical majors Aurobindo Pharma and Torrent group.
The two cities that are favourites in terms of stadium capacity are Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera with more than 1,00,000 capacity while the other is Ekana Stadium in Lucknow with 70,000 capacity.
The other cities in the hunt are Indore, Guwahati, Cuttack, Dharamsala and Pune. However, no one is giving them much of a chance.
Pointers
The base price for bidding has been set at Rs 2,000 crore. No one can bid less than that
The IPL will have 10 teams from the 2022 edition to the tournament with the addition of 2 new franchises
The cities in fray for the 2 new teams are Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Indore, Guwahati, Pune, Dharamsala, Cuttack.
Press Trust of India