HYDERABAD: Formula E, the world’s fastest-growing sport and the pinnacle of electric car racing championship, on Monday signed an agreement with the Telangana government to make Hyderabad a host city. The next championship is scheduled to be held from November 2022 to March, 2023. Although ideated just 10 years ago in 2011 and first race held in 2014, its viewership per race is more than half of the Formula 1 and is increasing quite rapidly every year. Currently, Formula E boasts of a cumulative viewership of 500 million.
As a part of their global hunt for new locations, Hyderabad has been chosen as a potential host city for the upcoming season.
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A team from Formula E, including Co-founder and Chief Championship Officer Alberto Longo and Track and Overlay Director Agus Zomano, are on a two-day visit to the city and have expressed their intent to consider Hyderabad as a host city for the next season. On this occasion, IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao said that Hyderabad has always been a happening place and has a cosmopolitan crowd that has awareness and appetite for such marquee events.
“This shall be one of the flagship events for the State, putting Hyderabad on the global map, joining 18 global cities including Paris, Rome, London, Hong Kong, New York, Berlin and Monaco. Our vision is to become the most electrified State in India, in terms of mobility, and events like this will surely enable us to achieve that goal,” he said.
During the signing of Letter of Intent, Chief Championship Officer Alberto Longo said they are excited about their potential entry into India and Hyderabad truly has the necessary ingredients to be a probable host from the next season. “India has supported the championship since day-one having a team in Mahindra. It has always been our desire to come to India as it is a major automotive market quickly adopting electric vehicles. We hope Formula E can accelerate this change,” he said.
Formula E promotes electric mobility and renewable energy solutions and it is the first global sport to be certified with a net-zero carbon footprint. After the signing ceremony, Mahindra Racing CEO Dilbagh Gill expressed delight and said that “it has always been our burning desire to race in front of our fans and have a home race. We are now one big step closer to this dream”.
Anil Chalamalasetty, CEO of Greenko and promoter of the event, said that if all goes as planned then Hyderabad would enter into a final agreement with Formula E in the next three months and could expect a race soon. “Greenko has been synonymous with green and renewable energy and we hope our engagement with such global events goes a long way,” he added.