The Board of Control for Cricket in India began the auction process for a new title sponsor for the Indian Premier League and expects the new candidate "to shell out at least 50% more" than the previous sponsor, according to Rathore & Bhushan of the ECONOMIC TIMES. Real estate company DLF partnered with the IPL for the league's first five years, and it paid Rs 40 crore ($7.4M) per year. Now the minimum bid price has been fixed at Rs 60 crore ($11.1M) per year, or Rs 300 crore ($55.6M) for a five-year deal. While "some experts believe the rate may be too high," BCCI has remained confident. IPL Chair Rajeev Shukla said, "We have increased the base price by Rs 20 crore ($3.7M), so definitely we are looking at a deal much more than the last time. A lot of people are interested in bidding for the rights." Telephone service providers Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea, Coca-Cola, and a public sector firm "are among companies expected to bid for the title sponsorship rights for the next five years, from '13-17." A source at Coca-Cola said, "We are interested. Since we sponsored five IPL teams last year, we will be interested in cranking up the association" (ECONOMIC TIMES, 10/30).
