Mumbai Cricket Association Establishes Rs 500 Crore Endowment for Grassroots Development

The Mumbai Cricket Association has allocated a Rs 500 crore corpus fund dedicated to grassroots cricket development, announced by president Ajinkya Naik following the association’s annual general meeting at Wankhede Stadium on September 11, 2026.

The fund targets maidan, school, and college clubs throughout Mumbai. The principal amount will remain untouched in a fixed deposit, while the accrued interest will be distributed to affiliated clubs to cover expenses such as equipment, kits, facilities, and logistics.

“For grassroots cricket, we decided to allocate a corpus fund of Rs 500 crores. In the last AGM, we contributed Rs 100 crores and this time we did increase it to Rs 500 crores for our grassroots cricketers, clubs like maidan clubs, school clubs and college clubs,” Naik said as quoted by Cricbuzz.

How Will the Rs 500 Crore Corpus Fund Operate?

The endowment structure is engineered to produce a recurring stream of interest income for affiliated clubs without eroding the principal capital. Clubs maintain complete autonomy in utilizing these distributions within the approved categories.

“It’s like an endowment fund. You keep this Rs 500 crores in a fixed deposit, and from that fixed deposit, the interest gets distributed. That is for providing kits, facilities, etc. So it depends on the clubs and how they want to use it. Sometimes they use it for logistics, sometimes they use it for cricket equipment, so there are different ways,” said Naik.

Consequently, each affiliated club receives annual interest-based payouts and independently determines whether to allocate those funds toward playing equipment, training kits, ground facilities, or logistical expenditures. This framework ensures that smaller maidan clubs possess the same financial autonomy as larger school and college organizations.

What Other Decisions Did the MCA Make at the September 11 AGM?

The AGM also approved naming three lounges at Wankhede Stadium in honor of Sachin Tendulkar, Madhav Mantri, and Ajinkya Rahane. A three-member committee, consisting of MCA vice-president Jitendra Awhad, apex council member Milind Narvekar, and Adv. Ujwal Nikam, was established to identify and designate the appropriate spaces within the stadium for each lounge.

MCA separately confirmed that efforts are underway to erect a statue of Dilip Vengsarkar at the Wankhede complex, reinforcing the association’s broader initiative to celebrate Mumbai cricket’s heritage at its home ground. Regarding the National Sports Governance Act, 2025, MCA clearly articulated its stance.

“We have not discussed it. We will go by the BCCI decision,” said Naik.

The AGM thus addressed administrative, infrastructural, and recognition matters alongside the headline grassroots funding commitment, with the lounge committee anticipated to report back to the MCA apex council once the spaces are finalized.

Source link