CHENNAI: Running a karting track isn’t easy in India. You are catering to a niche audience whose interest depends on the month. You won’t even break even for a number of months, considering the rent and maintenance charges. You’ll have to hope that the good months make up for that. Throw in a pandemic, and you have an existential crisis.
Any expert will tell you how a lack of karting infrastructure is one of the biggest reasons behind India not producing more top-class racing talent. Unlike most other sporting venues, these are privately owned and operated. That essentially means they are subject to all rules of capitalism: make enough money or close.
Multiple-time national champion Raghul Rangaswamy, who also runs ECR Speedway in Chennai, breaks this down further.
“We have four good months in a year, when there are good profits. For another five or six, we break even. And for the remaining two, three, we incur losses. March and April were supposed to be two of the good months. It’s going to be a tough year. The extra profit we get is from corporates (from events). But that’s going to be affected too.”
Despite his track being shut since the lockdown, Raghul is still spending money on it. “People who work for us are from the fishing community. They depend on this salary. Even last month, we gave out full salaries. Even this month, we’re planning to do the same.”
Rent, he says, is not an issue as the track runs on a revenue-sharing model. But that’s not the case for other tracks in India. Lakhs are paid every month, even when they are closed.
Akbar Ebrahim manages three tracks, one in Bengaluru and two in Hyderabad. “On the recreational front, the tracks cater to day-to-day customers. On the professional, they are used for training and karting championships. On both fronts, it is a complete zero.”
Akbar believes that if normalcy is restored by August, most tracks will have hope. But what worries him is the government’s perception: seeing them more as amusement parks than sporting venues. The extension of this attitude has plagued Indian motorsports. Despite Federation of Motorsports Clubs of India being a full-fledged, sports-ministry-recognised national sports federation and a racer (Gaurav Gill) getting Arjuna Award last year.
“The problem is that in all notifications, they are trying to confuse outdoor recreational facilities with amusement parks,” explains Akbar. “A karting track is definitely not an amusement park. During the lockdown, everything is locked down. But when they do start easing it, we are worried that we will end up last in the food chain. We are trying to send the concerned information across. But it is difficult to do so right now. Neither are we a mall nor an amusement park.”