Int'l cricket "may soon cut its long-term ties" with the Feroz Shah Kotla and "find a new home on the outskirts of the city," according to Indranil Basu of the TIMES OF INDIA. The Delhi & District Cricket Association is planning to build a "brand new stadium between Dwarka and Najafgarh, close to former India opener Virender Sehwag's home and adjacent to the airport." The project is expected to be finished by '20. According to DDCA Treasurer Ravinder Manchanda, association officials "are already in talks with the ministry of urban development" -- headed by Venkaiah Naidu -- over the process of "identifying and acquiring the 10 acres or so of land required." Manchanda: "DDCA will have a new stadium near Dwarka. Talks are on and we are going to start the project after identifying the land." DDCA has a budget of Rs 150 crore ($22.5M) for the stadium, expected to accommodate 50,000 people. Asked how DDCA would organize the money, Manchanda said that the association "was due to get its share of subsidies" from the Board of Control for Cricket in India for the past three years, amounting to nearly Rs 60 crore ($9M). The board also has a system of allotting "extra grants to state units for stadium construction," which could amount to a further Rs 60 crore. However, BCCI sources said that DDCA "has used up a major chunk of its share" -- amounting to more than Rs 40 crore ($6M) -- for infrastructure development (TIMES OF INDIA, 5/18).
