TWISTS AND TURNS

A lot of manoeuvring went into bringing MotoGP to India

- PUJA AWASTHI

The ₹12,000-crore Buddh International Circuit in Uttar Pradesh last saw a grand prix in 2013-the third season of the Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix. The following year, F1 left India because of government apathy, which became apparent when the sports minister of the time declared that racing cars was not sports. The world-class circuit lay unused for a decade after that, until the MotoGP Grand Prix of India came along.

At the heart of the F1 issue was a thorny tax problem. Whenever cars are brought into the country, a 200 per cent excise duty is levied. So it makes little sense to bring cars into the country for the sole purpose of racing them for a few days.

Manoj Kumar Singh, chairperson of the state government's promotional agency Invest UP, said a legal bypass was created specially for MotoGP. All bikes were held in two custom-bound areas-one at the airport, where the bikes landed, and another at the racing circuit. En route to the airport and the circuit, the police kept a strict watch on the vehicles.

"When the organisers (FairStreet Sports and Dorna Sports) first approached the government, the chief minister was very excited, especially as this was the first time such an event was being held in India," said Singh.