The Maharashtra government is going to extend the lease of the renowned Wankhede Stadium for an additional 30 years. The land, measuring 44,000 square metres, is valued at approximately INR 1,304 crore. The lease of the stadium had expired in February 2018.
The Indian Premier League (IPL), the MCA, and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) are all based out of Wankhede Stadium. The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) has been asked by the government to pay an annual fee of INR 1.52 crore. This is in addition to the INR 8.58 crore in rent from 2018 to 2023.
Because of the stadium's limited development potential due to Coastal Regulation Zone II rules, the MCA argues that the government has decided on an unreasonable price. The MCA has cited more reasons for it. For example, the ground is included in the RG (recreational ground) and PG (playing ground) categories.
The MCA is one of the country's richest cricket bodies. As of March 2019, the MCA's net worth was INR 337.54 crore. It also pays INR 9.33 crore annually to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for a recreation complex at BKC.
In April 2018, Ashish Shelar, then-MCA president, wrote to then-CM Devendra Fadnavis requesting a 50-year extension of the stadium's lease. The Mumbai collectorate used the gymkhana lease policy to determine the rent.
Gymkhanas owning land of 20,000 square metres or more fall into the "A" category and are required to pay rent equal to 1% of the base price. Based on the Annual Statement of Rates, the base price is 10% of the plot's total worth.
The rent will increase by 4% annually, with the plot's value reevaluated every five years. If the reevaluated rent is less than the previous year's rent, the larger amount is taken as the lease rent for that year, as per Gymkhana lease policy.
According to reports, the MCA paid the entire amount of approximately INR 7.06 crore over a five-year period on August 22, 2023. However, they objected to the new annual lease cost for 2023, which was INR 1.52 crore, the same as the lease rent for 2022.
For 2023, the collectorate estimated the stadium plot's worth at INR 714 crore, about 50% of the value analysed in 2017. Consequently, a lease rent of INR 71,45,094 was determined.
Share
Tweet
