Now, Britain asks for CWG dues to be cleared
By IANSFriday, January 21, 2011
NEW DELHI - British High Commissioner Richard Stagg Friday asked India’s public broadcaster Prasar Bharti to clear dues of Rs.96 crore ($21 million approx) on account of the coverage of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.
“SIS Live fulfilled its contractual obligations, against which all payments should have been made by now. The company is owed Rs.96 crore,” the British envoy said, a day after Australia raised with India the matter of unpaid bills of Australian firms for their work during the Oct 3-14 Games.
“It is not right that the company should be penalised in this way. We look forward to early resolution of this matter,” Stagg said.
“We are pursuing this matter with extreme urgency. SIS Live is a leading British broadcaster with over 70 years’ experience of covering major international sporting events,” the British envoy said.
He stressed that SIS Live’s coverage of the Delhi Commonwealth Games was widely praised as “first-class”.
Australia Thursday raised the issue of millions of dollars owed to its firms by the CWG Organising Committee with visiting External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna in Melbourne, who assured that he would take it up with the sports ministry.
