Prasar Bharati makes just Rs 581 mn from CWG

Prasar Bharati makes just Rs 581 mn from CWG

Prasar Bharati

MUMBAI: Prasar Bharati made Rs 581 million from the Commonwealth Games while it had set itself a target of Rs 1 billion.

The minister of state for information and broadcasting S Jagathrakshakan informed the Lok Sabha on this yesterday.

Doordarshan was not allowed to air advertisements during the closing ceremony of the CWG Games following complaints that there were too many ads during the opening ceremony.

Union Sports Minister MS Gill admitted in the Lok Sabha yesterday that The Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (OC) fell more than 80 per cent short of its revenue target.

While the OC was expected to generate Rs 17.08 billion, it only managed Rs 3.27 billion. On the other hand, the OC got more money from the government than originally expected, with its expenditure overshooting its budget by Rs 6.38 billion.

The revenue came in from three sources. The sale of tickets generated Rs 391.7 million. While the contracted value of sponsorship was Rs 3.75 billion, less than a third of that sum was realised, with just Rs 1.14 billion coming in so far.

Similarly, only Rs 1.74 billion has been received for the sale of the international television rights, against the contracted value of Rs 2.13 billion. That does not include the Rs.230 million withheld as tax deducted at source from the payments of Network Ten in Australia.

The number of visitors to the Games also fell short of the goal. While the OC had estimated 100,000 visitors and 8,000 participants, the actual numbers were lower.

The number of foreign tourist arrivals in Delhi in the first two weeks of October — not all of whom were necessarily in the city for Games-related tourism — was 75,606. The total number of participants was 6,572.