MUMBAI: The former IPL chairman Lalit Modi has said that the BCCI could lose Rs 20 billion over the termination of the Kochi IPL franchise.

On twitter, Modi wrote: "Kochi now being terminated - a further loss of 1500 crore to BCCI. Compounded by reduction in Media Rights. My estimate 2000 crore. Who is responsible for this mess now? Current president and outgoing president for sure. Who will they blame now for this. Where is the accountability and who will take responsibility,"

Expressing a sense of vindication over the mess, he wrote on his blog that the BCCI?s termination of the Kochi Tusker?s IPL franchise for non-payment of a bank guarantee is a financial mess he had predicted over a year ago. This was a mess he was prevented from trying to avoid during his time as IPL commissioner, he added.

"The news, which came out of the BCCI AGM in Mumbai, is another example of how the vendetta against me is being laid bare.?

Modi said that he had proposed a financial condition that would filter out all but the most serious and robust of bidders. This condition stipulated that bidders should have a capitalisation of no less then $1 billion and was created to ensure they had the ability to support an IPL franchise.

A commissioned report compiled by Ambit and KPMG confirmed that 73 Indian companies had a net worth above $1 billion and 156 had market capitalisation above that figure.

?So we knew there was a significant market at this level. Furthermore, with the reserve price for a franchise set at $225 million, the net worth of a successful bidder would be at least four times the reserve price of a new IPL team; a further safeguard against a consortium investing beyond their means.

?Its also interesting to note that part of the BCCI requirement was to generate interest from bidders for whom an IPL franchise was neither its sole, or its main business. Capitalisation of at least four times the reserve price, would ensure that bidders would clearly have other, significant interests and would also help to ensure their ability to meet annual payments over the required ten-year franchise period. In summary then, the BCCI wanted involvement from those who already had credibility, not those for whom the IPL would provide it.?

For some reason, the BCCI had a late change of heart and, after approving the initial conditions, they effectively brought more bidders into the mix by requesting lower the capitalisation requirement.

?After the award of the franchises to Kochi and Pune, the issue was compounded by my unease with the make up of the consortium which successfully bid for Kochi. Within the shareholding, there were members who were not bearing any of the risk and simply enjoying the potential benefits. This, of course meant others were subjected to a greater proportion of responsibility and I believed such an arrangement could result in potential default at some point - and problems for the IPL," he wrote.

Modi noted that 18 months later, the BCCI has terminated the Kochi contract on the basis of an unpaid bank guarantee which, according to new President N Srinivasan, ?....is not capable of being remedied." As a consequence, the BCCI now stands to lose more than $300 million by virtue of reduced commercial revenue because Kochi?s suspension means fewer teams and therefore games - not to mention a loss of credibility for the IPL itself.

Modi said it will be interesting to see who takes responsibility for an outcome he had predicted even before the contract was signed. ?It is a situation that could have been avoided but what it shows is that the unsubstantiated accusations made against me suggesting I imposed ?onerous? conditions purely to try and manipulate the bidding process towards my preferred bidders has been shot to pieces.?

MUMBAI: Former head of the Mumbai edition of the Hindustan Times Gurmeet Singh has joined Network18 Group as CEO - Forbes India, with immediate effect.

Prior to heading the Mumbai edition of Hindustan Times, he was handling ad sales for Hindustan Times and Mint in the West Zone.

Singh started his professional career with FMCG major Marico Industries Limited. After over five years of FMCG sales and brand management experience at Marico which included successful alliances with Pepsi and Camlin, he moved to Sony Music to handle sales and marketing for North Zone.

He has also worked at the India Today Group, where he was the business director of Music Today.

Network18 Group COO B.Sai Kumar said, "After the tremendous success of ?Forbes India? and the strong debut of ?Forbes Life India? recently, we believe that the Forbes India stable in India is poised for its next phase of growth and profitability and are delighted to have Gurmeet on board to drive that. His diverse experience & strong understanding of media brands, position him well to lead Forbes India forward."

TV18 Business Media president and editorial director Senthil Chengalvarayan added, "Forbes India?s growth has been built on challenging conventions and delivering a premier editorial product and we believe Gurmeet will be instrumental in pushing that agenda further."

MUMBAI: TransStadia will spend about Rs 600 million in five years towards developing the global World Series Boxing India team.

The company recently signed a 10-year deal in Astana Kazakhstan with World Series of Boxing, a property owned by Aiba, the apex body of the sport worldwide.
 
TransStadia MD & CEO Udit Sheth said that the company is the exclusive rights holder for India for perpetuity.

In terms of the factors that prompted the company to get involved with this event, Sheth said: "We saw what Aiba was trying to build worldwide. We believe it is a fantastic opportunity for Indian boxers to showcase their capabilities at the international level. TransStadia is in the business of sport where we create, manage and host sporting IP."

The team will be named in the third week of the month with the coach. The coach will subsequently recruit the players in September.

Talking about the event, Sheth said: "A total of 12 teams
participate in this event. In our group we have Moscow, Mumbai, Milan, LA, Pohang and Astana. We will be fighting five home and five away matches. The top 4 teams from each group will qualify for the next stage. A total of 67 fights will happen in WSB Season II."

In terms of the marketing initiatives being undertaken, he said: "We will be building the brand of our team on core values of India that have to do with hardwork, perseverance and strategy. We will be developing several youth programmes and talent development initiatives. Also our focus is to develop an academy as well. We want to work very closely with the IBF and the AIBA to make this a success in India."