THE MAHARASHTRA government on Tuesday slashed the fee to be paid for providing security during cricket matches in the state. The police earlier charged Rs 70 lakh for security provided for one international T-20 match or IPL match in Mumbai and Rs 50 lakh in the rest of Maharashtra. As per a Government Resolution (GR) issued by the state government on Tuesday, the rate has been slashed to Rs 10 lakhs per match. Further, the rates of International One Day International (ODI) and Test matches have also been slashed as per the GR issued by the Home Department. As per the GR, the fee for every ODI and Test match will now be Rs 25 lakhs as from Rs 75 lakh and Rs 60 lakh respectively charged in Mumbai prior to this GR. Outside of Mumbai, police charged Rs 50 lakhs and Rs 40 lakhs respectively. As per an RTI filed by RTI activist Anil Galgali in October last year, Mumbai Cricket Association owed Rs 14.82 crore to the police for the security provided for major cricket tournaments. The response said that Mumbai Police had written to the MCA 35 times seeking the fee. Galgali also said, “The government resolution has granted this bumper discount with retrospective effect from 2011 onwards, granting another gift of 13 crores to an entity that has been in government arrears for more than a decade.”
