Fall in Rupee hurts Indian Grand Prix

Will F1 return to India in 2015?

After it was confirmed in late July that the Indian Grand Prix, at the Buddh International Circuit, will dropped from the 2014 Formula 1 Calender and will be switched to a early 2015 race, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone claimed the race to be “very political”.

The reason behind this was the problem with the tax that teams had to pay to the Indian Government along with other custom duties to import the cars during the Grand Prix weekend.

Now, Ecclestone has given another statement on the same issue which claims the fall in Rupee in comparison to foreign currencies like Dollar, Euros and Pound has become a problem for the organizers.

In an interview with Sport Business International, he said: “The trouble in India is a simple one. The rupee has devalued an enormous amount so it is all very political. We won’t be there next year but after that I hope we will go back.”

In comparison with last year’s exchange rates, the Jaypee Group will have to shell out almost 20 percent more just to pay the hosting fees. This explains some of the problems in hosting an International event without any government support whatsoever. The only way a F1 race goes on to become successful is if it has some form of government backing, but in India the government has refused to render any help.