The Indian government is looking to privatise some stadia under the Sports Authority of India (SAI) to boost its visitor experience.
Union Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore declared the government’s intentions on Tuesday, stating that the country’s stadia need to improve their services and playing surfaces.
Some of the stadia included under the SAI are Jawahalal Nehru Stadium (pictured), Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium and Dyan chand National Stadium, which are all based in Delhi.
“We are keenly thinking of privatising some of our stadia to have better operations in terms of delivering sports to the sportspersons. There was a general study on how the stadia can be improved. The fact is that there is a need to improve the way stadia are administered,” the sports minister said at the launch of Excellence in Learning and Mastering of Sports and Physical Literacy (ELMS) Foundation, according to the Indo Asian News Service.
“The stadia must have better quality of service and playing area. The SAI was created before the 1982 Asian Games to help in conducting the Games and looking after these stadia. The mandate has increased now from that time and I think it’s time in today’s world we bring in as many stakeholders as possible.”
Rathore said that the privatisation could be modelled either through a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activity or Public Private Partnership (PPP).
“We believe that it is not just government who should be running sports. We want every stakeholder to become a partner. The sportspersons must get the best facilities,” he said.
“Our intention is to see either a CSR activity or a entirely PPP (model) happening. Be assured that the intention is there and we will make it happen.”
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