Shah Rukh Khan has done a Mukul Roy to IPL tickets at the Eden Gardens.
The Kolkata Knight Riders owner, who is also Bengal’s brand ambassador, has lowered the prices of a majority of the tickets for IPL V compared with last year’s edition.
“This year the tickets have been priced at Rs 300, Rs 400 and Rs 500 for the different tiers. The lowest is lower than last year’s,” said Biswarup Dey, the joint secretary of Cricket Association of Bengal.
Last year, the rates were Rs 400, Rs 500 and Rs 900.
The CAB has nothing to do with the ticket pricing, which is the prerogative of the franchisee owner concerned. At Eden, SRK takes the final call.
News of the slash in the ticket prices came on a day newly appointed railway minister Mukul Roy announced a partial rollback of the fare hike proposed by predecessor and party colleague Dinesh Trivedi in his budget speech last week.
While Roy announced the rollback following orders from Mamata Banerjee, it could not be confirmed whether any word from Writers’ played a role in SRK’s decision.
A senior state government official, however, saw economics behind the apparently populist move.
“If tickets at any stadium are sold at Rs 500 or less, the proceeds do not attract entertainment tax, calculated at 20 per cent of the ticket price,” said an official, offering an explanation for capping the IPL rates at Rs 500.
Apart from these three categories, there will be tickets for premium viewers that will come under the entertainment tax ambit.
This year, Writers’ sources said, the franchisee owner has been asked to pay around Rs 31 lakh as initial deposit for entertainment tax. “The final amount will be decided on the basis of the proceeds from ticket sales,” said the official.
Savings on entertainment tax — the outgo on this account was over Rs 2 crore — alone cannot be the reason behind the rate rejig, said a CAB official.
In the fourth edition of IPL in 2011, the KKR management had been forced to bring down the ticket prices from Rs 500, Rs 900 and Rs 1,200 to Rs 400, Rs 500 and Rs 900 after Eden witnessed near-empty stands in the first few matches.
“Price is a touchy issue with the people of Calcutta and King Khan must have realised it through his association with the city,” said the official.
If KKR sources are to be believed, SRK will formally launch himself as the brand ambassador of the state from the stands at Eden.
“In keeping with the chief minister’s wish of showcasing the cultural face of Bengal, he is planning a performance by a Bangla band and a chhou dance recital on the day of KKR’s first match on April 5,” said a source. “The focus is on Brand Bengal. So there will be dhakis in the galleries and cheer girls will turn up in saris.”
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120323/jsp/calcutta/story_15282341.jsp#.T271BsXDfjZ
