India has become the latest popular destination for global companies and low-growth western governments with its nearly 9% economic growth and rapidly increasing middle class. For this reason, many of the western nations which were publicly disappointed and upset by Indian’s lack of preparedness for the Commonwealth Games have recently stepped up trade efforts with the country. According to figures published by the International Monetary Fund, arising markets are expected to make up Just over 30% of the world’s GAP this year, double their contribution in 1985.
Countries like India and China are slated to be major contributors to the global economic output and growth this year because of the global recession which has slowed down the developed world to a record extent. Emerging market countries have been increasingly hosting international sporting events and are doing things their own way. After China showcased its economic clout during an impressive Beijing Olympics, Indian’s Commonwealth Games organizers were under tremendous pressure to deliver a comparable spectacle to promote “India Rising”.
Socio-Economic Impact Socio-economic impact embarked that India faced several socio-economic challenges. Million Katharine, a leading Indian expert on socio-economic development, remarked that the 2010 Commonwealth Games will create “a negative financial legacy for the country” and asked “when one in three Indians lives below the poverty line and 40% of the hungry live in India, when 46% of Indian’s children and 55% of women re malnourished, does spending billions of dollars on a 12-day sports event build national pride or is it a matter of national shame?
One of the outspoken critics of the Games is Main Shank Air, former Indian Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports. In April 2007, Air commented that the Games are “irrelevant to the common man” and criticized the Indian government for sanctioning billions of dollars for the Games even though India requires massive investment in social development programs. In July 2010, he remarked that he would be “unhappy if the Commonwealth Games are successful”. Air also says that, the AWG exercise costs more than SIS$15 billion (RSI. 70,000 core).
Melbourne, where the Games were held four years ago, spent only SIS$I . 4 billion. (The figures in both cases vary enormously depending on what is added to the total. ) Sandmen Banzai, senior editor at TV news channel Headlines Today and the author of Guts and Glory: The Bombay Cricket Story, estimates that the actual spending is even higher. Bantam’s complaint is that a lot of the money spent will be of no use. According to an August 5 report by the organizing committee on the status of rapidness for the AWG, the Delhi government was spending ISIS. 3 billion on the plus. The original budget for the Games allocated in 2003 was a paltry SIS$500 million. ) Against this, the direct revenue generation from broadcasting, sponsorship and ticketing was estimated to be SIS$500 million The difference over the actual expenditure on the Games is also because the private sector has put in a lot of money and this is obviously not reflected in the government’s tally. At times, this becomes difficult to apportion. Several new hotels had come up in Delhi and the neighboring Surgeon to cater to the expected 50,000 reign and 140,000 domestic visitors.
While Surgeon, which has developed into the NC capital of the country (most new multinationals are headquartered there), will have fewer problems, the new hotels in Delhi will not Justify the investment. The occupancy numbers are not in yet, but tourism during the AWG did not live up to early expectations. Tour operators and travel agencies (and nearby destinations like Agar, home to the Tag) had also spent a lot of money in beefing up infrastructure. They, too, are sitting on losses.
Other private players have contributed in support services. The Sahara Group, which has interests in finance and real estate and is the official sponsor of the Indian cricket and hockey teams, pumped in more than US$2 million in hospitality-related activities. It also refurbished the guest rooms at the Games Village. “The AWG is a national festival,” says Substrata Roy Sahara, chairman of the group. “We took it as our duty to make it a success at this time when India is rising as a superpower. Indian businessman Swim Preemie called the 2010 Commonwealth Games a “drain on public funds” and said that hosting the high-expense Games in India is not Justified even that the country had more important priorities facing it, such as education, infrastructure and public health. Organizational failure Vigilance-related irregularities and Over-Invoicing – On 28 July 2010, the Central Vigilance Commission, an Indian government body created to address governmental corruption, released a report showing irregularities in up to 14 AWG projects. As per official reports, in total 129 works in 71 organizations have been inspected.
The detailed preliminary findings included the award of work contracts at higher prices, or quality assurance and management, and work contracts awarded to ineligible agencies The Goalposts news agency reports that scandals have come to light, such as “shadowy off-shore firms, forged emails, inexplicable payments to bogus companies and inflated bills ? for every purchase from toilet paper to treadmills. ” [34] Among the alleged corruption and defrauding of the games budget, toilet paper rolls valued at $2 were cosseted at $80, $2 soap dispensers at $60, $98 mirrors at $220, $11,830 altitude training simulators at $250,190.
Allegations of corruption and financial irregularities urination of a special committee to probe the allegations of corruption and mismanagement against the Organizing Committee (CO). The probe committee was led by former Comptroller and Auditor General of India VS. Shunning. This probe was in addition to the Directorate General of Income Tax Investigation Central Bureau of Investigation (CB), Enforcement Directorate, and Central Vigilance Commission (C.V.) investigations already underway. The Prime Minister, DRP.
Ammonia Sings, had promised in mid-August, when reports of the bungling first surfaced, that corrupt officials will be given “severe and exemplary” punishment after the Games. The committee was given three months time to submit its report. [137][138] A total of 53 corruption cases were being examined by the C.V.. As of September 2012, 28 of them were still in different stages of investigation, 13 were referred to CB for further investigation and 12 were closed. Good Outcome, but Poor Planning Bike Debtor, professor at the Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research (CPRM), says that there are no easy answers; it’s not all black and white. L believe that 50% of the expenditure would have happened in any case,” he notes. What is important is the legacy left by the Games, more notably the transport infrastructure. The rest of it is intangible. There is a debate about the remaining 50% that should have been spent elsewhere, the opportunity cost of that expenditure. Delhi has got the kind of transport infrastructure it needed but not necessarily the integrated planning that it needed. ” If there is a debate about the short-term impact, the medium term has people taking more radical stands.
The organizing committee of the AWG claimed in its defense that the Jamboree would help create Jobs. The AWG will add 2. 5 million jobs and SIS$5 billion to the Indian economy in the next few years,” says K. V. Thomas, Union minister of state for agriculture and consumer affairs. “According to my information, 80% of the expenses have been on account of infrastructure development, and when infrastructure improves the city will definitely improve. Tourism to the city will increase and the capital city needed these improvements. Banzai disagrees. “The Job creation and it is not on that scale is purely temporary. ” Adds Debtor: “Job growth is of two types: transient and permanent. Permanent Jobs happen on account of the growth of the transport system. The multiplier effect of increase in transport infrastructure is permanent. Jobs that happen in the construction industry and in the tourism sector are transient. ” There is a business angle, too. Some athletes may have stayed out of India, but business participation didn’t suffer.
