Avnindra Kumar Rai, an apex council member and the nominee of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India to the Cricket Association of Bengal, has written a letter to the state body highlighting certain irregularities, procedural deficiencies, and contractual concerns in its functioning.
The Telegraph is in possession of the letter sent to the CAB secretary on May 11, 2026, which points to various lacunae regarding refurbishment of Eden Gardens, appointment of league operations & commercial partner for the Bengal Pro T20 League (now called Bengal T20 League) and turnkey design for development of Centre of Excellence at Dumurjala, Howrah.
“This report is pre-determined and based on preconceived evaluation...
“We have already sent a reply via email on Saturday,” secretary Bablu Kolay said on Sunday evening.
Eden restructuring
The CAB has proposed to refurbish certain blocks of Eden Gardens and the cost of the project is estimated to be ₹250crore. It will increase the stadium’s seating capacity upon completion of the project to 85,000.
The project is required to be completed within a period of 18 months from the “date of handover of site”. In this regard, the CAB has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) from Project Management Consultancy (PMC) firms on March 3, 2026 for the “seamless integration” of existing blocks (B, C, K and L) and the Club House.
The CAG report points out that structural assessment of existing infrastructure is required, which has not been carried out by CAB. “Considering the age, original structure design and present condition of the existing structures, such an assessment appears essential to mitigate potential structural and safety risks,” the report said. “The redevelopment which happened prior to the ICC 2023 World Cup should also have been factored in while floating the RFP.”
The report said there was no clarity as to whether the handover will occur “in phases or in entirety... in the context of a stadium facility that may be required to host scheduled international and domestic events...”
It states that the “infrastructure requirements for multi-purpose usage” are not clearly defined. The RFP envisages “redevelopment of the stadium into a multi-purpose sports facility capable of hosting non-sporting events.” However, the RFP does not “clearly outline the corresponding specify infrastructure requirements necessary to support such functionality.”
On the lack of professional indemnity insurance, the report said: “The RFP does not appear to stipulate any requirement for the PMC to maintain adequate Professional Indemnity Insurance to safeguard against risks arising from professional negligence, design deficiencies, errors, omissions, or lapses in project management.”
T20 League, Season 3
The CAG has raised various ambiguities and shortcomings regarding the appointment of operation and commercial partner for Bengal T20 League, Season 3. The CAB has awarded the contract to JSW Sports this year.
It cites lack of clarity regarding term of engagement, tournament schedule, uncertainty in financial proposal timeline, inadequate detailing of technical evaluation criteria, no minimum technical qualification threshold, ambiguity regarding treatment of technically disqualified bidders, lack of clarity in revenue and fee structure, no mechanism for forfeiture of security deposit or performance enforcement and inadequate detailing of termination provisions.
The evaluation framework is inadequately defined, with no detailed technical scoring matrix, no minimum technical qualification threshold, and no clear quality and cost based selection (QCBS) methodology.
“The RFP does not indicate the specific date and time for opening of financial proposals, stating instead that the same would be ‘notified separately.’ Such uncertainty may adversely impact bidders’ planning, preparedness and overall transparency in the procurement process,” the document noted.
“The RFP does not clarify whether financial proposals or technically non-qualified bidders would remain unopened or whether such bids may still form part of the overall weightage assessment. Explicit clarity in this regard would strengthen transparency and procedural fairness.
“Section 6 of the RFP refers to both a ‘commission percentage proposal’ and an ‘operational fee structure’, however the basis and applicability of these components remain insufficiently defined. Specifically, it is unclear whether the commission percentage applies to gross or net revenue and whether any ceiling/cap on fees has been prescribed. Such ambiguities may result in divergent financial interpretations among bidders.”
COE at Dumurjala
The report highlights the absence of detailed technical and design specifications for the Centre of Excellence.
“...(The RFP) does not appear to comprehensively specify detailed technical parameters, material specifications, design benchmarks or applicable compliance requirements under ICC, BCCI or other relevant international standards,” it said.
The report states that there is no clear bill of quantities (BOQ), item-wise quantity estimates, engineering cost assessments or benchmarking rates to facilitate accurate pricing and bid comparability.