Goa, July 1 -- The Shyama Prasad Mukherjee stadium was built over an area of 32,000 sq. mts. with a built up area of 18,800 sq. mts. for the third edition of the Lusofonia Games in January 2014.

"The SAG has been depending on Grants from the government. The government has its own priorities on spending and that is why we thought of leasing out the facility to a private operator so as to be able to gain financial self sufficiency," Sports Secretary Ashok Kumar told Herald.

"SAG can depend on the government for its capital finance but it needed money for its day to day operations. You cannot depend on the government to bail you out all the time," said Kumar whilst explaining the rationale behind the move.

"The department was thinking of ...