The future of the Indian Grand Prix in jeopardy?
While the organization of the Indian Grand Prix has reportedly already sold 21,000 tickets for its 2012 edition, it could face some financial difficulties due to not owning the land surrounding the Buddh circuit.
In 2011, the inaugural Indian Grand Prix was both a popular and critical success. In front of packed stands, Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) won on the Buddh circuit, which received unanimous praise.
As the 2012 edition of the Indian Grand Prix approaches, the circuit located in Greater Noida, with a capacity of 95,000 seats, is shaping up to be a new success, as 21,000 tickets have reportedly already been sold. Most of these are for the picnic stands, in other words, the cheapest seats on the circuit (€50 compared to €200 for premium seats), thus confirming the popular success of the event. Moreover, for now, only 10% of these tickets have been purchased by Europeans, with the rest of the buyers coming from India and nearly a third from the south of the country.
However, according to Omnicorse.it, the sky might darken above the Indian Grand Prix: « The organizers are actually facing a bad surprise: the lands adjacent to the circuit, which were obtained through the expropriation of farmers by decree, do not belong to the company that built the infrastructure with an investment of several hundred million. Initially, their intention was to recoup their costs, at least partially, with the construction of housing, but the unavailability of the lands places the company in great difficulty, » as explained on the Italian website.
If the future of the Formula One Grand Prix does not seem threatened at present, the Buddh circuit could, however, according to Omnicorse.it, give up organizing the 2013 Indian MotoGP Grand Prix. Beyond Formula One, the Greater Noida circuit is expected to host a GT1 World Championship event in December and, in 2013, a round of the Superbike World Championship.
