Pro Kabaddi League: Pawan Sehrawat emerges costliest player with Rs 2.60 crore bid from Telugu Titan
Mumbai (PTI): India's Pawan Sehrawat set the record of being the costliest player at Pro Kabaddi League for the second consecutive year after he was picked by Telugu Titans for whopping Rs 2.60 crore at the auctions.
A total of 601 players are up for auction this year.
Sehrawat was picked up by Tamil Thalaivas for Rs 2.26 crore in season nine auctions. On Monday, Haryana Steelers, UP Yoddhas, Telugu Titans and Bengaluru Bulls were engaged in a bidding war for Sehrawat, who played a vital role in India's victory over Iran in the Asian Games final as the team clinched the gold medal.
But before the Indian reclaimed the record on the first of the two-day auction here, Iran's Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh had emerged as the costliest after he was bought for Rs 2.35 crore by Puneri Paltan in category A.
India's Maninder Singh was also among high demand as he was roped in by Bengal Warriors for Rs 2.12 crore.
A total of 137 matches will be played in the 10th edition of PKL. As many as 132 league stage matches will be followed by the playoff comprising five matches two eliminators, two semifinals and the final.
The base price in category A was Rs 30 lakh, category B was Rs 20 lakh whereas in categories C and D, the base prices were placed at Rs 13 lakh and Rs 9 lakh respectively.
For Iran captain Shadloui (all-rounder), whose latest appearance was in the Asian Games final against gold medal winners India, there was intense bidding right at the start which also reset the record of costliest player for both Indian and overseas.
U Mumba and Gujarat Giants began the bidding and were soon joined by Puneri Paltan and Telugu Titans. The Iranian was eventually picked up by Puneri Paltan for Rs 2.35 crore as Patna Pirates, his former team, did not exercise their right of Final Bid Match (FBM).
"We needed someone on the left. We came with the mindset of picking him up at the auctions," Puneri Paltan coach BC Ramesh told the media.
Gujarat Giants bagged Fazal Atrachali for Rs 1.60 crore, with the star Iranian player also attracting the biggest bid for a defender in the tournament auction's history.
India's all-rounder Rohit Gulia went to Gujarat Giants for Rs 58.50 lakh with Patna Pirates once again option against using their FBM.
All-rounder Vijay Malik saw bids being made by Bengal Warriors and UP Yoddhas, who were joined by Telugu Titans and U Mumba. He was acquired by UP Yoddhas for Rs 85 lakhs with his former team Dabang Delhi KC deciding against using FBM.
Indian raider Maninder, who has played for Jaipur Pink Panthers and Bengal Warriors, attracted heavy bidding in category A. He was roped in by Telugu Titans for Rs 2.12 crore but eventually went to Bengal Warriors, who used their FBM to retain the player.
Manjeet attracted bids from Tamil Thalaivas and Patna Pirates, who took him for Rs 92 lakh with Haryana Steelers not using FBM. Tamil Thalaivas bagged Ashu Malik for Rs 96.25 lakh but Dabang Delhi KC used their FBM option to retain the player.
Dabang Delhi also roped in Guman Singh for Rs 85 lakh, who was initially picked up by U Mumba and added Meetu Sharma for Rs 93 lakh.
Benglauru Bulls picked up Vikash Khandola for Rs 55.25 lakh while Siddharth Desai went to Haryana Steelers for Rs 1 crore, who also picked up Chandran Ranjit for Rs 62 lakh.
There were no bidders for Sandeep Narwal, Deepak Niwas Hooda, Ashish, Manoj Gowda, Sachin Narwal, Gurdeep, Ajinkya Kapre and Vishal Bhardwaj.
The two-day auction began on Monday with 12 teams bidding for players, both Indian and overseas, from categories A and B. The auctions for categories C and D will take place on Tuesday.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
'Made in India' must become symbol of excellence, global competitiveness: PM
New Delhi (PTI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called upon states to encourage manufacturing, boost 'ease of doing business' and strengthen the services sector to make India a global services giant.
Addressing the 5th National Conference of Chief Secretaries here, Modi emphasised the need for quality in governance, service delivery and manufacturing, and said the label 'Made in India' must become a symbol of excellence and global competitiveness.
He said India has the potential to become the world's food basket and the country must move towards high-value agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries to become a major food exporter.
"Called upon states to encourage manufacturing, boost 'Ease of Doing Business' and strengthen the services sector. Let us aim to make India a Global Services Giant," Modi said in a series of posts on X.
The theme of the three-day conference, which began on December 26, was 'Human Capital for Viksit Bharat'.
Modi observed that this conference marks another decisive step in strengthening the spirit of cooperative federalism and deepening Centre-State partnership to achieve the vision of a 'Viksit Bharat'.
Highlighting India's demographic advantage, he said nearly 70 per cent of the population is in the working-age group, creating a unique historical opportunity which, when combined with economic progress, can significantly accelerate the journey towards a 'Viksit Bharat', according to an official statement.
Modi said India has boarded the "Reform Express", driven primarily by the strength of its young population, and empowering this demographic remains the government's key priority.
He noted that the conference is being held at a time when the country is witnessing next-generation reforms and steadily moving towards becoming a major global economic power.
Underlining the need to strengthen 'atmanirbharta' (self-reliance), he said India must pursue self-reliance with zero defect in products and minimal environmental impact, making the label 'Made in India' synonymous with quality and strengthening the commitment to "zero effect, zero defect".
The PM urged the Centre and states to jointly identify 100 products for domestic manufacturing to reduce import dependence and strengthen economic resilience in line with the vision of 'Viksit Bharat'.
In higher education, too, he said, there is a need for academia and industry to work together to create high-quality talent.
He highlighted that India has a rich heritage and history with the potential to be among the top global tourist destinations.
Modi urged the states to prepare a roadmap for creating at least one global-level tourist destination and nourishing an entire tourist ecosystem.
He said it is important to align the national sports calendar with the global sports calendar.
"India is working to host the 2036 Olympics. India needs to prepare infrastructure and sports ecosystem at par with global standards," he said.
The prime minister said the next 10 years must be invested in the states, only then will India get the desired results in such sports events.
Every state must give this top priority and create infrastructure to attract global companies, he said.
In the services sector, Modi said, there should be greater emphasis on other areas like healthcare, education, transport, tourism, professional services and artificial intelligence, etc. to make India a global services giant.
He said India will soon be launching the National Manufacturing Mission (NMM).
States should work in tandem with the discussions and decisions emerging from the conferences of both chief secretaries and DGPs to strengthen governance and implementation.
The PM said similar conferences could be replicated at the departmental level to promote a national perspective among officers and improve governance outcomes in pursuit of a 'Viksit Bharat'.
In conclusion, he said every state must create a 10-year actionable plan based on the discussions of this conference with one, two, five and 10-year target timelines wherein technology can be utilised for regular monitoring.
The conference featured a series of special sessions that enabled focused deliberations on cross-cutting and emerging priorities.
It marks another important milestone in strengthening the Centre-State partnership through structured and sustained dialogue on national development priorities, according to the statement.
The PM's principal secretaries P K Mishra and Shaktikanta Das, Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan, members of the NITI Aayog, chief secretaries of all states and Union territories, and domain experts attended the meeting.
Anchored in the prime minister's vision of cooperative federalism, this conference serves as the forum where the Centre and states collaborate, designing a unified roadmap to maximise India's human capital potential and accelerate inclusive, future-ready growth.
It has been organised annually over the past four years.
The first conference was held in Dharamshala in June 2022, followed by subsequent conferences in New Delhi in January 2023, December 2023 and December 2024.
