The third season of Indian Premier League will make the exchequer richer by Rs 150 crore (Rs 1.5 billion).
The government expects to collect this much tax from the cricketing event and has already mopped up Rs 110 crore (Rs 1.1 billion) in the first 15 days as tax deducted at source.
"We expect direct tax collection of Rs 150 crore. We have already mopped up over Rs 110 crore in the first fortnight," a tax official told PTI.
The official further said the tax department expects around Rs 90-100 crore (Rs 900 million-1 billion) from the Board of Control for Cricket in India and Rs 50-60 crore (Rs 500-600 million) from the eight franchises.
Till date, the department has collected around Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million) of tax on payments made by the franchises, while over 60 crore (Rs 600 million) has been received from incomes received by the BCCI.
The tax collection for IPL-1, which was held in India in 2008, was close to Rs 90 crore (900 million).
However, IPL-2 moved to South Africa because of security concerns. Overall, Indian Premier League would generate a business of $1 billion this season, IPL commissioner Lalit Modi had said recently.
"The tournament is still on and we have not reached the final number. . . Yes, it will be more than a billion dollar (about Rs 4,700 crore) this season . . . last season we did $450 million. Thereafter, we would double every year," Modi had said.
Business for Sony, the official broadcaster, alone would be about Rs 700 crore (Rs 7 billion) to Rs 800 crore (Rs 8 billion), he added.
The success of IPL as a business idea has also catapulted its brand value to $4.13 billion this season, more than double from last year's $2.03 billion, according to brand consultancy firm Brand Finance.
