IPL, Billionaires, Bollywood Get Subsidies But Research Gets Taxed—Professor Questions

What if India's biggest cricket carnival, the Indian Premier League (IPL) was taxed and the money used not for ads, afterparties or luxury boxes, but to build new IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology), fund deep-tech startups, or arm researchers with cutting-edge labs? This might sound very wild, but certainly not to this professor.

In a thought-provoking LinkedIn post, which has gained nearly 14,000 likes in less than five days, Prof. Mayank Shrivastava of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, asked a bold question: What if we taxed the IPL and used that money to fund research and innovation in India?

And it's not just a demand but he brought receipts as well.

Cash Machine: IPL

Shrivastava highlighted that the numbers are staggering. "In IPL 2023, BCCI earned a record Rs 5,120 crore surplus, with total income reaching Rs 11,770 crore, driven largely by media rights. Projections for IPL 2024 and 2025 estimate annual revenues at Rs 12,000–13,500 crore. And that’s just one part of the larger earnings ecosystem," he wrote.

But the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), despite these monster figures, enjoys income tax exemption under the garb of a charitable organisation, he noted. Billionaires who own the IPL franchises also get favourable tax treatment. Players do pay income tax but the big-ticket profits at the top often remain untouched.

"If a simple 40% tax applied just on BCCI’s IPL profits, nearly Rs 15,000 crores could have been raised over three years, enough to fund 10 new IITs or a national deep-tech innovation corpus," the professor claimed.

Add the franchise profits Rs 800–1,200 crore/year, and another Rs 320–480 crore could be collected annually. That’s Rs 6,000 crore every year, just from the IPL ecosystem, he explained.

"Meanwhile, research institutions in India must pay GST on lab equipment, consumables and software licenses. Entertainment is subsidised. Research is taxed," Shrivastava pointed out.

He also noted that it’s not just IPL. Bollywood productions enjoy tax breaks and state subsidies. Religious trusts command vast commercial empires while enjoying full tax exemptions. New sports leagues are given startup tax holidays. "If even a fraction of these sectors were taxed modestly, thousands of crores could fund India’s scientific foundations," he added.

He also cited examples of countries like the US China and Germany built wealth by first funding science, whereas India is seeking wealth without building foundations.