More companies expected to bid for teams now

New Delhi: More corporates are expected to throw their hat into the ring as the IPL bidding process for the two new teams begins afresh on Tuesday.

Reports emanating from different quarters indicate that business houses were now looking at the team auction more proactively after it "has started to make business sense".

Atul Chordia, chairman and chief executive of Panchshil Realty and part of the consortium bidding for the Pune team, was quoted as telling a business daily that they were not concerned about the bid price going up.

"It has to be commercially viable, we are answerable to our shareholders," Chordia said.

Kerala's IPL team owning dream has also been revived with reports of the Muthoot Pappachan Group "assessing the new terms and conditions".

Earlier, film director Priyadarshan and actor Mohanlal had pulled out of the race citing the clause that the net worth for a team had to be Rs 5,000 crore.

But they are not the only ones bidding for a team from God's own country.

According to reports, the Ashok Piramal Group is part of a consortium that includes the Jaypee Group, Shree Ram Group of Industries, Rosy Blue India Pvt. Ltd and Anchor Electricals Pvt. Ltd, which is bidding for Kochi.

With these developments, it seems that Kochi will also join the list for the top bidded teams - something that was expected from the cities of Ahmedabad, Pune and Nagpur.

In fact, Ahmedabad had been tipped to win one of the two bids with top corporates like Adani Enterprises, Sahara Group and ICICI planning to 'show them the money'.

The IPL seems to have got its act together and the initial idea of expanding the base of the tournament to other parts of the country could now actually come true.

Potential franchisees can bid for cities that include Pune, Ahmedabad, Nagpur, Kanpur, Dharamsala, Vizag, Rajkot, Cuttack, Baroda, Kochi, Indore and Gwalior.

Bids will be accepted till 10 am on March 21, following which they will be opened in Chennai on the same day.
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