By IANS
New Delhi : One of the first investments that GMR Holdings has made after buying the franchise of the Indian Cricket League’s (IPL) Delhi team was to give a loan of about Rs. 30.5 million for installation of floodlights at the Ferozeshah Kotla.
And, for a change, the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) officials are happy that the infrastructure company is bearing the cost initially. All IPL Twenty20 matches will start in the evenings, under lights, at the historical ground.
“It is good that GMR is taking care of the financial aspect of the floodlights. They are giving us about Rs. 30.5 million for installing lights,” a top DDCA official told IANS.
“They are giving us this money on loan and we would be returning it to them over a period of time,” said the official, looking pleased at the turn of events.
DDCA had, anyway, initiated the process of installing the floodlights and had invited tenders too after visiting the Cricket Club of India in Mumbai where Kapil Dev’s company had installed the floodlights.
Money too would not have been a constraint for the DDCA, for the Indian cricket board gives hefty subsidies for installing floodlights to its affiliated units at their own stadiums.
But the advent of the IPL and then infrastructure GMR, which is also building the Delhi airport, whatever little concern was there in DDCA has evaporated.
The process to install four giant towers has started at the Kotla and labourers could be seen digging the empty spaces between the newly built stands for the purpose.
General Electricals has won the contract, beating Kapil Dev’s Dev-Musco, Bajaj and Philips, who had also submitted tenders.
Because of the absence of floodlights no day-night One-Day International has been played at the Kotla, though two day-night games have been played at the Sports Authority of India-owned Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the city.
Before the DDCA took the decision to install permanent light towers its officials discussed an idea to have temporary, moveable floodlights, which could be installed – and dismantled — at short notice.
But with the launch of the IPL and more and more ODIs being played under lights these days, that idea was shelved.