CWG expense pegged at Rs 10,000 cr

Laying to rest speculation that the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2010 budget has overshot, CWG Director General V K Verma on Wednesday said that the entire estimated cost of the games was Rs 10,000-crore.

“The (speculated) CWG cost is a myth. The entire cost of the Games is Rs 10,000 crore, which is USD 2 billion as compared to the USD 28 billion spent by China during the (Beijing) Olympics,” Verma said addressing a gathering at the India International Sports Summit in Mumbai on Wednesday.

Out of the Rs 10,000-crore while Rs 2,000-crore will be spent on hospitality, the rest of the money would be spent on building infrastructure like flyovers and stadiums, which is there to last, he said.

Verma said that if India expects to host the Olympics in the near future, they should start laying the platform from now.

“The time has come to show the world that India is capable of hosting a mega event,” he said.

Verma, who is also the vice-president of World Badminton Federation, said that India got an opportunity to host the World Badminton Championship, following the popularity of the game in the country and the success the country achieved in the sport.

“According to a survey, India is the second largest badminton playing nation with 1.7-million players. India languished at the 27-28 position eight years ago but have now rose to seventh position,” he added.

‘WC was a good experience’Notwithstanding their dismal show at the World Cup, Indian hockey captain Rajpal Singh said it was a learning experience for his team. “We may have lost in the World cup, but the players after getting lot of experience from the tournament are now looking at the Asian games ahead,” Rajpal said.

“Our focus now is Asian games,” he said adding that the players are now looking at the CommonWealth Games as a preparatory tournament for the team.