A Kolkata Knight Riders match at the Eden

Calcutta, July 12: The Eden Gardens’ lease renewal has been delayed because the defence ministry, its owner, feels the token fee it collects from the cricket administrators should reflect the big-money reality of the Indian Premier League.

“One thing is for sure, the amount is going to rise, and rise sharply. That is one reason why the delay is taking place, since the amount is being reviewed,” a ministry source said.

The Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), which holds the Eden lease from the army, had applied for renewal over a year ago, just before the expiry of the previous term, but the clearance hasn’t come through yet.

Prasun Mukherjee, the CAB president, says the delay is holding up the start of work on an ambitious Eden makeover before the 2011 World Cup.

“Thoda late hota hai…. A lot of spadework has to be done. It has to go to the defence secretary and then to the minister. Plus, there are a very large number of cases. But once the renewal comes through, Eden Gardens should be a world-class club,” said T. Parthasarathy, defence estate officer, the nodal officer in Calcutta to recommend the lease renewal.

In the first week of April, Mukherjee, Parthasarathy and senior officers of the Eastern Command and the state government visited the ministry to place their views.

“They have agreed to our proposals in principle,” Mukherjee said.

All that was proposed at the April meeting, however, is history now because the IPL with its crores has changed the rules of the game, the ministry source said.

Earlier, the Eden would host only Test matches, and later, also 50-over games. “When the application for renewal was sent, it was before the IPL matches had taken place. And this queered the pitch for the CAB,” the source added.

The annual lease amount of Rs 22,500, set in 1992, the last time the lease expired, is considered a pittance in the backdrop of estimates that the CAB stands to pocket Rs 7-9 crore from the first IPL season.

Ratnakar Shetty, the chief administrative officer of the national cricket board, said: “Under IPL regulations, the Mumbai Cricket Association allowed the local franchisee to use both its Wankhede and DY Patil stadiums at the rate of Rs 50 lakh per stadium per match. The rate is the same for the other stadiums where IPL matches were played.”

Neither the CAB nor any of the other state boards has received the payment yet, a process expected to be completed by September.

The renewal should come from Delhi before that, possibly in a month – even in 1992 the army had taken a year -- in accordance with the proposals forwarded by the Eastern Command.

But the fee will be revised next year after factoring in the IPL earnings. “As a lessee we have the right to do that,” the ministry source said.

Under the existing system, the lease fee increases every five years by 50 per cent. For instance, it was set at Rs 15,000 in 1987 and raised to Rs 22,500 in 1992, the last time a revision was made. In 2007, it should have been Rs 75,000, which the CAB had offered to pay as a goodwill gesture.

The CAB wanted to build new facilities such as conference and seminar halls, guestrooms for players, a museum, a hall of fame, shops and another clubhouse with a bar and a restaurant.

After consulting the Bengal home secretary, the GOC, Eastern Command, recommended the renewal with the changes sought to be made by the CAB, except for the bar and the restaurant.