OCTOBER 1, 2004

Red light for Indian GP plan

The bid for a Grand Prix for the city of Hyderabad has been axed. This is not really a surprise following the defeat last Spring of the state's chief minister Chandrababu Naidu in local elections. Naidu had dreamed of using F1 to develop the state of Andhra Pradesh into a centre for tourism and technology but his defeat by a Congress Party-led alliance led to the appointment of Rajasekhara Reddy as the new chief minister.

The site which had been picked out for a Grand Prix has now been handed over to developer who will turn it into a site for high technology companies, the new government preferring to invest the millions which would have gone into the construction of the track and paying the fees to the Formula One group are now being channelled into more direct assistance for the local population.