IOA to seek deadline extension, proposes budget below Incheon

Indian Olympic Association will seek an extension of deadline of 15 days from its parent Asian body for the submission of the final bid to host the 2019 Asian Games, IOA Secretary General Rajeev Mehta said today.
Mehta told PTI that he will write to the Olympic Council of Asia to give 15 days extension of deadline for the submission of the final bid documents. The OCA had set the deadline of tomorrow.
"We have submitted a detailed proposal to the sports ministry regarding the hosting of the 2019 Asian Games and it is now upto the government to decide whether the country should host the Games or not," Mehta said.

"Since, the government will need some time to evaluate our proposal, I am going to write to the OCA tomorrow to give us 15 days extension of deadline on final bid submission," he added.
Asked about the expected budget for hosting the Games, Mehta refused to give a specific amount but said that it would be less than the cost of the Incheon Asian Games to be held later this year.
"In Delhi, we have most of the competition infrastructure and the government will not need to spend much on other non-competition infrastructure. In Incheon, they had to build stadia and transport and other facilities also. So, we will not need to spend that much and our budget will be less than that of Incheon," he said.

The estimated budget of the Incheon Asian Games is USD 1.6 billion (approx Rs 9620 crores).

Sports Secretary Ajit Sharan said that the ministry has sought some more details from the IOA.
"They (IOA officials) met me and discussed the bid. But we have sought more details and clarifications from them. Only after they give those details, we will be able to decide on the bid," Sharan told PTI.
Asked about the details that the ministry was seeking, Sharan said, "They were on expenditure requirements, infrastructure and about Games Village."
On tomorrow's deadline to submit the bid, Sharan said that "IOA was seeking an extension of the deadline".