New Delhi: The first ever Indian Grand Prix has proved one point - you do not always need government backing and an army of bureaucrats to organise a big event.
In fact, a corporate house may do a better job and that too without the money of the tax payers.
While Lewis Hamilton rated it 8 despite it being an inaugural event, Richard Branson termed it as a fantastic track. Bernie Ecclestone called it superb and the champion, Sebastian Vettel said it was great considering it was done in a very short period of time.
As many as 95,000 fans, 3,000 foreign tourists and 12 teams, all contributed to the Indian Grand Prix's successful debut, and the credit for the smooth ride went to India Inc.
The Jaypee Group, the architect of the success, built the 834-acre Buddh International Circuit in two years flat and the results were for there for everyone to see.
There was a striking contrast with the government's blunder on the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The bid was won in 2003, but bureaucratic red-tape and nepotism over seven years added to escalating building costs of more that Rs 11000 crore. Adding to the embarrassment, several organising committee officials are in jail for graft.
Despite a weekend event, Formula One scored way better than the 15-day-long Commonwealth Games. The only dampener, probably, was a sulking Sports Minister, Ajay Maken.
Maken posted a tweet on Saturday, stating, "When F1 is flagged off, as sports minister I am laying foundation stone for 5 cr synthetic track at P.T. Usha's academy in Koyilandi near Calicut."
Formula one has shown that sporting events can be executed minus controversies, bureaucratic hassles and the tax-payers' money. There’s surely a lesson to be learnt.
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