Providing a major boost to the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the Union Cabinet cleared a proposal on Thursday to more than double the budget for it.

From the earlier Rs 767 crore, the budget has been hiked to Rs 1,620 crore.

“The Cabinet has approved the proposal of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports for providing a revised budget as loan to the Games Organising Committee,” said Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni after the Cabinet meeting.

Against this revised estimate of Rs 1,620 crore, the Organising Committee is expected to generate revenues to the tune of Rs 1,708 crore.

The hike comes mainly in view of cost escalation in accommodation, catering, the opening and closing ceremonies and in the increase of duration of the Queen's Baton Relay.

The duration of the Queen's Baton Relay has been increased from 136 to 240 days on the international leg and from 60 to 100 days on the domestic leg.

The revised route now covers all 70 Commonwealth Games Association nations and territories and all states in India.

The other heads where more money is expected to be spent include office rents, communications, image and look, technology, risk management insurance and technical conduct of sports.

Besides, there are new areas which are essential for the successful conduction of the Games, but were not included in the initial budget of the Organising Committee. These include accreditation, city operations, sponsorship and television rights, security, sustainability and environment, and ticketing.

Another reason cited for the hike is that the number of volunteers has gone up to nearly 30,000. Hence, the cost of accreditation, catering, uniform, on these heads has increased.

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