Slow ticket sales for Delhi Games

Only two per cent of tickets for October's Commonwealth Games in Delhi have been sold, with organisers banking on a late rush to fill stadiums.

Some 50,000 tickets have been sold so far from a total of 2.3 million available for the October 3-14 Games in the Indian capital.

Organisers concede they're likely to experience a shortfall of sales in the vicinity of half a million tickets.

Tickets have been available since June 4 online, and the pace of sales was expected to pick up once tickets were available over the counter from Wednesday.

However, the start to the second phase of the ticketing process, when online bookings were also to translate into physical tickets, did not go smoothly.

Hundreds of people returned empty-handed from designated counters across New Delhi on Wednesday because the tickets had yet to arrive.

Games organising committee secretary-general Lalit Bhanot blamed a technical glitch for the delay.

"There was some problem with the distribution system but we have things in place now and the process will start on Thursday," Bhanot said.

Demand for tickets so far has not been for sports, but rather opening and closing ceremonies.

But the ceremonies will be largely for the affluent due to the cost - most of the tickets are priced at 5,000 rupees ($A119), 25,000 rupees ($616) and 50,000 rupees ($A1,165).

The prices are steep in a country where a person's average monthly income is about 3,000 rupees ($A72).

The lowest denomination of tickets for the ceremonies, priced at 1,000 rupees ($A24) have sold quickly, with only 3,000 remaining.

"The tickets for the ceremonies are expensive but those for sports events are much cheaper," Bhanot said.

He dismissed fears of black marketing and counterfeiting of tickets.

"Tickets are being given only to those with identity proofs," he said.

"Also, the tickets cannot be counterfeited as they have been published with great care at the national security press where currency notes are printed."