About Sanjiv Goenka
Sanjiv Goenka, chairman of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, has been active in public commentary on politics, business, and sports. Following the BJP's victory in the 2026 West Bengal assembly elections, Goenka expressed confidence in the new state government, stating that the BJP has a "track record of success in every state that they have governed" and that he expects to see the same in Bengal. He called for policy consistency and the scrapping of what he described as "archaic laws" such as the urban land ceiling act, which he said does not exist in any other part of the country. Goenka also said that investing in Bengal had previously been an "emotional call" but that with a BJP government, "emotion turns into emotion plus confidence."
On national affairs, Goenka praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governance, calling him "by lengths the best prime minister that India has had" and stating that "Modi hai to mumkin hai" is a sentiment shared by Indian industry. He expressed confidence in India's long-term economic trajectory, predicting the country could become "one or two in the world" by 2047. Addressing the impact of the Iran-US war, Goenka acknowledged short-term challenges for fuel-dependent businesses but said the group is proceeding with approximately ₹72,000 crore in projects across multiple states, though he noted the war may delay their target by a year. In sports, Goenka discussed his ownership of the Lucknow Super Giants IPL team and Mohun Bagan football club, describing himself as a "convenient punching bag" on social media and stating that he does not give cricketing lessons to experts.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Sanjiv Goenka's recent appearances.
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✨ AI-enhanced transcript with speaker attribution
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Narrator0:00
A 10-team IPL will become a reality next year after two new teams were announced following a team auction in Dubai. So Lucknow and Ahmedabad will have their own franchises from the 2022 season. Here's all that you need to know about the two new teams.
Congratulations. The Indian Premier League is getting bigger from next year. Two new teams will be seen: Ahmedabad and Lucknow. Both the cities will have an IPL team next season onwards. IPL will now be a 10-team competition, and the numbers that the new owners have shelled out for the two new franchises are mind-boggling. Our RPSG Group owned by Sanjiv Goenka, who previously owned the Pune Super Giants in the IPL, now have the Lucknow franchise. They won the team auction with a jaw-dropping bid in excess of 7,000 crore.
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Sanjiv Goenka1:02
You know, I'm personally quite excited about this because Lucknow is... I mean UP is the biggest state of the country, the most popular state. And we do believe there is a huge population in the state who is waiting to have a team. So it's something that we are fairly excited about, and we do believe it will be a furtherance of our business in UP, which we've been very keen on.
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Narrator1:32
The second highest bid came from CVC Capital Partners, whose bid worth 5,600 crore landed them the Ahmedabad franchise. CVC Capital Partners is an American private equity house and has stakes in Formula 1. The global private equity firm has recently shelled out a huge amount for a little over a 14.3% stake in the Six Nations Rugby tournament in Europe as well. A total of 10 parties had entered the fray with bids to own the two franchises. Football club Manchester United's owners and the Adani Group were among others to have placed bids to purchase a team. The bidders also got to choose from six centers: Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Cuttack, Dharamshala, Guwahati, and Indore to base their team in. In the end, the RPSG Group and CVC Capital won the team auction. Sports Bureau, India Today.
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Reporter2:36
It's RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group that's won the bid for the Lucknow franchise with a bid of, believe it or not, 7,090 crore rupees for the next season of IPL. Here's an exclusive interaction that we had with Sanjiv Goenka after the successful auction.
Joining us now is Sanjiv Goenka. He's been itching to get his hands on an IPL team for a long while, finally has it. In the fourth IPL finals, your team Pune was defeated by one run. That was heartbreak.
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Sanjiv Goenka3:09
As heartbreaking as heartbreaking can get.
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Reporter3:11
Congratulations, you finally have your team. But just how much money have you spent on buying this? And why? What match have you done? 7,090 crores. Welcome.
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Sanjiv Goenka3:22
Okay, very simple. Firstly, you don't... you invest a few crores for passion. You don't invest hundreds of crores for passion. Okay, that's the first point I'd like to make. Secondly, what I have to pay to the BCCI eventually is the difference between what I get from the BCCI by way of broadcast rights etc. etc. and what I have to pay to them by way of license fees. The net difference, as I calculated based on our calculations, is close to half of 7,000 crores.
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Reporter3:57
And what are your hopes for the team, apart from the fact that you lost by one run? You'd like to turn that into a victory at the finals. But what are the lessons that you've learned? What did you see at the IPL that just got concluded that you hope could serve as a lesson for the team that you build? And who are you most keen on having padding up for your team?
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Sanjiv Goenka4:17
As far as wanting players, everyone wants the best of the best. That's not going to be possible necessarily because the existing franchises will have the right to retain some players that they have. So your key best players will be retained by the existing franchises. So we'll have to make do with what we have.
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Reporter4:35
Alright, and leave it there for the time being. Wish you all the best for your new team. It's interesting that you say it's not just passion and josh, that you think that this could be a good investment. Because if it's just passion, then you've just paid a lot of money to indulge in that passion. But you're hoping also that this will prove to be a worthwhile investment. We'll track what happens. Thank you very much, Sanjiv Goenka.
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Sanjiv Goenka4:55
Thank you.
