The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is set to miss the July 1 deadline stipulated by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) to submit its bid to host the 2019 Asian Games. The IOA, however, will seek a 15-day extension, which they are hopeful will be granted by the continental body.

The IOA and sports ministry have been wrangling over the cost to host the Games, and the issue came to the fore yet again on Monday after sports secretary Ajit Sharan demanded a detailed budget. A source said that in its revised proposal, the IOA gave an estimate of Rs 5,500 crore as a part of the operative cost for the Games.

However, the ministry has asked them to give estimates for the construction of the Games Village as well as various developmental projects that will be undertaken in the build up to the event. The government forecasts an expenditure of up to Rs 25,000-30,000 crore. The bid process cannot move ahead without the permission from the sports ministry, who will present IOA’s case to the cabinet after it is convinced.

Factoring in the costs

“Building the Games Village and creating road connectivity to that place is the most expensive part. We will need those estimates before going ahead with the bid,” a ministry source said. “IOA’s Games-related estimation of Rs 5,500 crore is on par with what we had projected.”

IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta, who presented the proposal to Sharan, contended that developmental projects do not fall under their purview and hence did not include it in their estimates. He added that the IOA will also seek an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week to get his backing.

Non-committal

“The ministry has not given us the permission yet; neither have they denied it. They have asked for further details and we’ll need another five days to satisfy all queries from the government,” Mehta said. “The deadline set by the OCA ends on Tuesday and we won’t be able to submit our bid in time since we haven’t got all the necessary permissions. We began the procedure late so it was always going to be tough to meet the deadline. However, we had given a hint to the OCA before and are hopeful they’ll give us an extension.”

In its proposal, the IOA has said they’ll need to construct just two more indoor stadiums and use the rest of the infrastructure that was built for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

However, those stadiums will need massive renovation work. They have also proposed to hold the watersport events in Uttarakhand. Mehta is also the president of Uttarakhand Olympic Association.

The IOA began the bidding procedure for the 2019 Asian Games just 10 days ago. It faces a stiff competition from Indonesia to host the Games after the original hosts Vietnam backed out citing financial constraints. The OCA will be declaring the winning bid on September 20 in Incheon during this year’s Asian Games.