A recent reply to an Right to Information (RTI) query has now revealed that the organising committee of the CWG could rake in barely `400 crores of the total expenditure through merchandise sale and other modes of revenues.
“The OC spent a total of `1,700 crores but could rake only `400 crores in revenue, the report, which is being finalised for tabling in Parliament this session will include the reply to the RTI query,” said the activist who had filed the RTI under condition of anonymity.
Sources have confirmed that a final report to be submitted in Parliament in the second half of the ongoing Parliament session will show a deficit of over `1,500 crores.
The Games were meant to earn `1,780 crores, a target set by Games Organising Committee chairman, who promised the games will be revenue neutral. The revenue, however, adds up to just `400 crores, states the reply to the RTI query.
With the ongoing probe in the CWG-related financial irregularities recently, several of Mr Kalmadi’s closest aides and members of the Organising Committee were arrested, some of them for trying to obstruct the CBI’s inquiry into the body’s financial history. In January 2011, Mr Kalmadi was sacked as chairman by sports minister Ajay Maken.
The CAG audit report on CWG, which will be tabled in the current Parliament session, also states that the total expenditure for the Games added up to almost `1,700 crores of this the government has had to pay nearly `1,300 crores.
Meanwhile, sponsorship was meant to bring in `400 crores, but only half that amount was earned.