New IPL teams: Intense bidding in the offing with top groups in fray

The base price for the new teams has been pegged at Rs 2,000 crore. Some of the leading industrial houses - the Adani Group, the Sanjeev Goenka-backed RPSG, the Naveen Jindal-owned Jindal Steel, Torrent Pharma, Aurobindo Pharma - have expressed interest. 

Published : Oct 24, 2021 19:18 IST , Mumbai

The BCCI is hoping to secure a price of Rs 8,000-10,000 crore for each team.
The BCCI is hoping to secure a price of Rs 8,000-10,000 crore for each team.
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The BCCI is hoping to secure a price of Rs 8,000-10,000 crore for each team.

The bids for the two new Indian Premier League (IPL) teams will start in Dubai on Monday. While 22 companies - including the promoters of Manchester United - have bought the tender documents for Rs 10 lakh, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) expects serious bidding from about five or six Indian corporate groups. 

The base price for the new teams has been pegged at Rs 2,000 crore. Some of the leading industrial houses - the Adani Group, the Sanjeev Goenka-backed RPSG, the Naveen Jindal-owned Jindal Steel, Torrent Pharma, Aurobindo Pharma - have expressed interest.

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The BCCI is hoping to secure a price of Rs 8,000-10,000 crore for each team. 

“The BCCI is inviting new teams after a while, and several companies have shown interest and have picked the tender documents. However, it is important to understand that buying tender documents does not mean all parties will be part of the final bidding process. With some noted corporate groups in the fray, we are expecting some intense bidding,” one of the sources in the BCCI told  Sportstar .

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The BCCI has allowed a consortium - up to three companies or individuals - to bid for a franchise, but then, each of the three entities should have an annual turnover of Rs 2,500 crore. For an individual or a company, the annual turnover should be a minimum of Rs 3,000 crore. 

As per the tender documents issued by the BCCI, the teams will have to be based in any of the six Indian cities - Ahmedabad, Cuttack, Dharamsala, Guwahati, Indore, and Lucknow. Even though the investors can bid for more than one city, they will have to settle for one. 

Sources in the Board have indicated that they will make a decision on whether to announce the successful bidders on Monday, after doing the technical evaluation of the bids. 

The bids were initially meant to be opened on October 17, however, the deadline to buy tender documents was extended to October 20, which led to the delay. “There were wide interests from potential investors, which forced the BCCI to extend the deadline,” a BCCI source said. 

The industry experts, who have been following the market trends for a while, believe that with ‘vast and diversified’ business models, the Adani Group and the RPSG could emerge as front-runners. While the Adani Group has invested in kabaddi teams, RPSG owned the now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant franchise and Goenka is one of the owners of ATK-Mohun Bagan, which features in the ISL. 

Owned by Naveen Jindal, Jindal Steel & Power, too, is a strong contender. Brother of Sajjan Jindal - the co-owner of Delhi Capitals - Naveen is a sports enthusiast and even owns a polo team - Jindal Panther. 

The BCCI is adding two new teams after six years. In 2015, it had added two teams - Rising Pune Supergiant and Gujarat Lions - for the 2016 and 2017 editions as replacements for the then suspended Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals teams.

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