Security a high priority: Gill

Union Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, M.S. Gill, has assured the National and international media that while security was a high priority, it would not cause inconvenience to the spectators and their access to the stadia during the Commonwealth Games (CWG).

Gill was interacting with journalists at a lunch he hosted on Friday. Dwelling on the role of his ministry in the development of sports in the country as also the progress made in shaping the infrastructure for the CWG, the Sports Minister reiterated that everything was falling in place since he took over in April 2008.

He spoke of the functional situation in shooting, hockey, archery and boxing complexes, and the appreciation they have drawn from international sportsmen and officials. He was particularly enchanted by the ambience of the Tuglakabad Range, describing it as “the best in the world.”

A message

The Union Minister underlined the fact that hosting the hockey World Cup successfully, notwithstanding certain uncertainties, was a message to the international community of India's competence in organising mega sporting events.

While expressing happiness over India's showing against Pakistan in the opening tie in the World Cup, Gill congratulated the teams for exhibiting the spirit of sportsmanship and how the tie transported many to a mood of nostalgia.

He urged the Indian players to avoid irritation and show discipline in their work.

Discussions with Negre

Gill also touched on the discussions he has been having with the FIH boss, Leandro Negre, on the subject of Hockey India elections and the FIH plans to bring more tournaments to India. He has urged the FIH chief to provide greater opportunity for Asian officials to serve in the management of referrals and other technical areas. On Hockey India elections, he asserted that they should be “fair and free with a clean electoral roll,” with an independent observer supervising secret voting.

The Sports Minister also revealed that the Group of Ministers in the Government were closely monitoring the development schemes as well as the financial inputs sanctioned and spent. He was confident that the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium would be ready by June.

Gill observed that his ministry had stayed focussed in preparing the teams not only for the Commonwealth Games but also for the next Asian Games and the 2012 Olympics.

The budget is Rs. 678 crore and it might be enhanced.

NTPC to add 4,100 Mw next fiscal: CMD

State-owned power major NTPC today said it will add 4,100 Mw of coal-based thermal power to its total capacity during the next financial year.

The largest power utility currently generates over 30,000 Mw and has plans to take this to 50,000 Mw from all sources by the end of the 11th Plan (2007-12).

"We would commission a capacity of 4,100 Mw in the next fiscal," NTPC Chairman and Managing Director R S Sharma told reporters here today.

NTPC would commission the second 490 Mw unit of its Dadri (near Delhi) plant in July, ahead of the Commonwealth Games in October. The entire power generated from the plant will be used for the Commonwealth Games.

That apart, NTPC also plans to commission 500 Mw unit of the Korba project in Chhattisgarh, 2x500 Jhajjar (Haryana), 500 Mw Farakka (West Bengal) and two 660 Mw units of Sipat (Chhattisgarh) during the next fiscal.

Korba (500 Mw), Jhajjar (2x500 Mw), Farakka (500 Mw), Dadri (490 Mw) and Sipat (2x660 Mw) would come up in 2010-11, Sharma said.

Meanwhile, NTPC has added 1,000 Mw capacity during this fiscal against a target of 3,300 Mw. Contractual dispute over price escalation lead to the delay in commissioning of the 1,320 Mw Sipat project.

The first 490 Mw unit of the Dadri project was commissioned this January and is feeding power into the National Grid.

The 840 Mw stage-I of Dadri supplies electricity to the NCR and the Railways.

Daunting cost puts cloud over Games bid

Any hopes Auckland has of hosting the 2018 Commonwealth Games are set to be dashed, with the Government likely to announce next week that it will not underwrite the cost.

The latest estimates on what it would cost to stage the Games are $600 million, half of which would be met by the Government and half by the new Auckland Super City.

Cities intending to bid have to give notice by March 31 and the Government will decide next week whether it would support a bid.

The decision is likely to be no, the Weekend Herald understands.

Sports Minister Murray McCully met the bid feasibility committee in Auckland this week.

The New Zealand Olympic Committee and Sparc have also been involved.

Mr McCully said there had been extensive work over the past few months "and the material that has been put together has been of very high quality".

"But the numbers are daunting and we will make some decisions in the next week or so."

With so little money available to fund new initiatives - only $1.1 billion in this year's Budget - the notion of committing $300 million for a sports event, even well into the future, is thought to be too politically risky.

And given the uncertainties around the Auckland Super City leadership, the costs and job losses, the appetite for handing Auckland a further $300 million bill is not high.

The difficulties the Government faced in dealing with the disparate Auckland leadership over establishing "party central" in Queens Wharf may also have put it off.

Auckland Regional Chamber of Commerce chief executive officer Michael Barnett is on the bid feasibility committee and says he would be disappointed if the decision was no.

He said the Government had a tough call to make.

The short-term political environment surrounding the Super City was volatile.

"But if you play the long game, you have got the potential to say this could be the key that brings the new city together."

"It could be the event that was the making of Auckland."

Mr Barnett said most of the people working on the project were looking eight years out.

"You have to accept that there is huge financial commitment when you undertake any of these major events but I believe that New Zealand needs to have a succession of major events if we are to retain our reputation as being able to host major events and to be able to do it well and be good hosts."

He said that after the Rugby World Cup in 2011 there were not many major events in the pipeline.

Abuja in Nigeria is planning to bid for the Games and the Gold Coast in Australia is thought to be waiting to see whether Auckland bids before making a decision.

Christchurch hosted the games in 1974 and Auckland in 1990.

The next Commonwealth Games are in Delhi in October and the 2014 Games will be in Glasgow, Scotland.