New Delhi:
As the final countdown for the Commonwealth Games begins, the mega sporting event continues to be cold shouldered by corporates.
While most of the firms are staying away from the CWG, which has been mired into controversies, security measures for the event has created problems for auto component firms in the National Capital Region, whose casual workers have to leave jobs for not possessing identity proofs.
In terms of sponsorship and advertising, companies including LG Electronics India and Godrej, are not associating themselves with the Games. Others like Hero Honda, Tata Motors and Coca Cola are, however, sponsoring the CWG, being held from October 3-14, but in kind.
"With all the bad name associated with the event, we will not feel we have missed an opportunity even if the CWG proves to be a success," L G Electronics India National Sales head Amitabh Tiwari said.
He said the company did not plan for the CWG and will not make any last minute changes, adding the organisers of the event should have approached all the corporate houses, who are major spenders on sports to make it successful.
Maintaining that the group is not interested in the CWG, Godrej Group Chairman Adi Godrej said, "We are not looking at any sort of association with the Games."
He said no one has approached the group for sponsorship, advertising or any other kind of association and "even we are not interested".
Commenting on the general lack of enthusiasm among the corporate houses, Madison World Chairman Sam Balsara said, "The interest among corporates is very low as except for the opening ceremony and a few key events, the Games are unlikely to generate any substantial viewership."
He, however, said companies should look at associating with the CWG for patriotic reasons.
"We are trying to persuade our clients to have a re-look at it," Balsara said.
Only three notable private players are associated with the event. While Hero Honda is the official motorcycle partner, Tata Motors is providing over 1,809 vehicles to be used during the Games. Coca Cola is the official beverages partner.
Doordarshan, the official broadcaster of the event has also been struggling to rope in advertisers. It has already revised downwards its ad revenue from the event to Rs 100 crore from initially planned Rs 200 crore.
In order to give a filip, the government had asked public sector oil companies to book ad spots worth Rs 10 crore on DD's national and regional channels.
For the auto component makers in the National Capital Region, the CWG has spelled more problems as many of their casual workers have failed to meet security criteria.
While none of the officials of companies that PTI spoke to agreed to come on record, they said in some cases even a third of their workers had to leave the NCR region as they didn't have valid identity proof.
"Most of the impact is on unskilled labour segment. Some companies have even asked relatives of existing workers to come for work, as it is easier to give them identification," official of an auto maker said on condition of anonymity.
In some cases, work shifts have been extended beyond the regular eight hours duty with companies providing food and extra facilities, another official of a component firm said.
"We have even brought regular workers from our other facility to work at our factory in the NCR till the games are over," an official of a Gurgaon-based component maker said.
Asked about the impact of labour problems faced by component suppliers to its operations, Honda Motorcycle &
Scooter India Operating Head (Sales and Marketing) N K Rattan said, "There were difficulties in getting some parts, as some of our vendors were having labour shortage."
Auto Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) Executive Director Vinnie Mehta said "there are problems.
In certain companies absenteeism is as high as 25 per cent," He said efforts are on by ACMA member firms to issue some sort of identity proof to contract labourers and daily wagers so that they can continue to work.
As part of efforts to put in place a "fool-proof" system during the CWG to be held from October 3-14, Gurgaon Police had started verification drive as that region is an important transit zone to enter the national capital.