IPL TEAM AUCTION HIGHLIGHTS

CVC Capital won the bid for Ahmedabad for Rs 5,200 crore whereas the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group bagged the Lucknow franchise at Rs 7,000 Crore. The IPL bidding process for new teams will begin on Monday as the Indian cricket board, BCCI is expecting new teams to go for huge sum. The Indian board believes the new franchises will go for at least 7000-8000 crore. 22 companies have picked up bids and cities like Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Indore, Guwahati, Pune, Dharamsala, Cuttack are in the fray. Only two franchises will make it to the 2022 season, which will add up to 10 teams. The companies 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 INR 3000 crore and in case of consortium, each of the three entities should have an annual turnover of INR 2500 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, are the favourites to own a new franchise. Similarly, RPSG group which is headlined by billionaire Sanjiv Goenka are 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. There has been buzz that Lancer group, which is owned by Manchester United owner Avram Glazer, has also picked up the bid document.