No sweat equity in our IPL bids, say Adani, Videocon

Caught in the midst of the IPL bids controversy, corporate giants Adani and Videocon today said they had not offered any sweat equity to any union minister or their kin to secure a T20 cricket team.

There were reports that the bid documents of the two were missing when IT officials visited Indian Premier League (IPL) offices last week amid allegations that the corporate houses had offered sweat equity to politicians to clinch the deal.

Adani and Videocon had last month unsuccessfully bid for the two franchises that were to be added to the hugely popular IPL tournament.

Debunking the reports, a top official of Gautam Adani-led Adani Group told PTI: "We bid for IPL franchise through Adani Enterprises which is a listed company. Adani Enterprises was to own 100 per cent in the team. Never did we offer any sweat equity to anyone."

He was responding to a question whether the bid contained provision for sweat equity to a union minister or his kin.

Answering an identical question, a top official of Venugopal Dhoot led Videocon told PTI, "No we did not offer any sweat equity."

The Adani Group official said the group's IPL bid was not mentored by anyone.

Earlier, the Gujarat-based Group issued a statement saying it was in possession of copies of its bid for IPL franchise and was ready to share it with the authorities probing alleged irregularities in the cricket franchise auction.

There were allegations that bid documents of Adani and Videocon, who were among the bidders for the two franchises that finally went to Sahara and Rendezvous Sports, were missing.

"The copies of the bid documents (of the second round) submitted by us have been retained by us and we are ready to provide the same to the authorities, as we are perfectly on the right side of the law," Adani said in a statement.

Adani said its bid papers for the first round were returned unopened by IPL as the round was canceled.

"The documents of the second round from all bidders were opened at the ceremony and were retained by IPL. It is normal practice to dispose of the bid documents from unsuccessful bidders after a specified time, in line with the guidelines framed by the organisation, normally after the validity of the offer expires, in this case by IPL," Adani said.

The group, however, did not say how the bid submitted by it last month was valid and if IPL could have disposed it of.