Taking a dim view of such plans, officials in the three districts have decided to caution them to procure the approval of the Entertainment Tax department before going ahead with the show, or face strict action.

Sources in the three collectorates said the Entertainment Tax Commissionerate in Gandhinagar and Additional Chief Secretary P K Lehri have already been consulted in the context and have given the green signal to include this trade within the tax scope.

They said the tax on such income would be as high as 65 per cent, making profits difficult.

There are reportedly four businessmen ``planning'' to show the matches in Kheda, as many in Anand and two in Vadodara. Kheda resident deputy collector D H Shah, and his Anand counterpart I K Patel, say they have each received at least four or five proposals from interested businessmen.

In Vadodara, district collector Anil Mukim said that at least one cable operator and a cinema owner had apprised his officials about their plans, but he was awaiting an advisory message from Gandhinagar.

Lehri, however, told Express Newsline that Section 3 of the Entertainment Tax, 1977, was clear enough in the regard and all such businessmen had to pay the required tax for the same.

Alpesh Shah, owner of the Videolane Cable Service of Vadodara's Gaindi Gate area, planned to arrange at least 100 seats in the nearby Kamuwala Hall where he would have screened the 42-day event and charged Rs 750 each. ``It is not done; I had earlier been informed there would not be any tax on this and whatever was applicable on my cable services would follow. Anyway, I would have to rethink about the whole issue afresh'', he says.

Pranav Parikh, president of the Baroda Cinema Exhibitors' Association and owner of Apsara talkies, also said that though he planned to exhibit the matches on the bigger screen, he was still not clear about the official formalities.