The much awaited Indian Grand Prix might come back in the near future as the Indian government is planning to resolve all the issues that led to F1 leaving India after just three races in 2013.
2011 was the most memorable year for F1 fans in India. After decades of wait, the Indian Grand Prix had finally become a thing. The shining Buddh International Circuit was unveiled in Greater Noida and the fastest cars in the world were ready to hit the arena. Big names like Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher and others were all set to light up the circuit.
The inaugural race took place on October 30, 2011 with the Red Bull Racing’s Vettel clinching the title in a dramatic event. The Indian Grand Prix continued for the next two years with Vettel maintaining his dominance.
The circuit was world class, the fans were turning up, the potential to attract more eyeballs was immense. It seemed like everything was set to make India a permanent stop in F1’s yearly calendar. However, after three successful events, brakes had to be applied and the Indian Grand Prix came to a screeching halt.
Why Indian GP was cancelled after 3 races?
Ahead of the 2013 edition of the Indian Grand Prix, Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), governing body of F1, announced that the race at the Buddh International Circuit would not take place in 2014 but will return the next year.
2015 Indian Grand Prix was also listed in the official F1 calendar but ultimately had to be cancelled. The 2016 edition of the race was also cancelled and since then F1 has not returned to India.
The bone of contention between F1 and Indian authorities was the taxation policy of the then Uttar Pradesh government. Authorities refused to classify F1 as sport and tagged it as entertainment. This led to everything related to the event being taxed heavily by the state government.
The Buddh International Circuit was run by the Jaypee Group which had to shell out costs in tens of millions of USD annually to get the race going. The racecourse was also not supported by government funding unlike in most other countries.
Rising costs and tax disputes forced F1 out of the country. With other countries vying to get an F1 race in their prime cities, India fell behind and never recovered.
Sports ministry keen to bring F1 back to India
Fans have been hoping for a long time to see the best of F1 racers in India and if the latest reports are to be believed, good news might be in the offing.
News agency PTI on Monday reported that sports ministry is talking with the track authorities to revive the Indian Grand Prix. The government is showing wilingess to bring back the annual event to the Buddh International Circuit. The tax issue is also expected to be resolved soon to clear way for the process.
“The minister went to see the F1 track in Greater Noida recently and held discussions with promoters about when latest the race can be restarted. He has told the track owners to hand over the track to any sports management company for 2-3 years, who will work on the sport’s comeback to India. Tax issue is there in hosting F1 but this will be resolved soon. The minister has told the promoters to restart F1 as soon as possible,” a source told PTI.
However, it is not going to be easy to bring F1 back to the country. F1 already is packed with 24 races this season with more places eager to host the globally followed event. Indian authorities had managed to bring MotoGP to the country in 2023 but even that event has not taken place since then.
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