MUMBAI
Mukesh Ambani (Reliance Industries)
Cost: $111.9m

Reliance Industries has ventured into big time cricket for the first time after 1987, when they hosted the World Cup. Two questions rise: Why Mumbai? and why now? Chairman of the group Mukesh Ambani’s conglomerate goes way beyond geography, yet he settled for Mumbai at a cost that Team Reliance says is a pittance for them.
Expect Ambani to throw his weight around when the player auctions begin too, and all this, his men say, is being done because of the company’s passion for the game. “We want to do something for the sport, help develop it because we are passionate about it. Reliance has entered this league because it is definitely exciting. IPL will certainly help develop the domestic scene in the country and Reliance wants to be a part of it,” says a RIL spokesperson.
Mumbai provides Ambani with a readymade infrastructure and a highly visible vantage point in the financial capital.
“Of course, we will go all out to ensure that the city embraces its team and I agree there’s a huge opportunity to tap the market. But this is not about money, this is about passion more than anything else,” said a Reliance official.
The Anil Dhirubai Ambani Group (ADAG) lost the bid and big brother Mukesh won after procuring a slightly better margin than Bangalore’s Vijay Mallya.

DELHI
GMR Group
Cost: $84m

From redeveloping airports across the country, the Bangalore based GMR Group has surprisingly ventured onto the cricket turf. The 57-year-old founder-chairman of the group, GM Rao, insisted that a reputed service oriented company like theirs wanted to be more visible. That’s the reason a company involved in roads and power generation, apart from airport redevelopment, wants to be connected to cricket. “Intangible assets contribute substantially in the overall progress of a company” — that’s what they say at GMR.
For GMR, Delhi was the team to own. They are involved in the redevelopment of the Delhi airport. Delhi being the power centre and the number one place in terms of brand evolvement too were important factors.
“The GMR group was keen on Delhi. It makes sense because we’ve been involved in a major project here,” says Vijay Vancheshwar, head, corporate communications. “There were rumours that GMR was interested in a team down south, but there is no truth to that. Delhi is what we wanted,” he says.
The group is presently busy — until the player auctions begin — in planning their future course of action. They are putting together a back room cricket team with a point-man, who is well-versed in the sport, to help them during players’ auction and later help themselves build a brand. “Cricket has a great brand value and we definitely want to be associated with it. Twenty20 has caught the nation’s imagination,” explains Vancheshwar.

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