The 21st century was supposed to be India’s century, the time when the nation became a global economic power and its golf industry took off like a rocket. Today, just 13 years into the new millennium, India’s economy is in “disarray,” according to the New York Times, “with the prospect of worse to come in the next few months.”
The Times reports that India’s real estate markets are “teetering,” its infrastructure is a wreck, good jobs are getting hard to find, the price of diesel fuel – “the lifeblood of the Indian economy” – is expected to spike, and, thanks to runaway inflation, many coveted goods (automobiles and electronics in particular) now cost more than many prospective buyers can afford. What’s more, since May the value of the rupee has fallen by 20 percent against the U.S. dollar, a fact that has implications for every sector of the nation’s economy, including its golf sector.
It’s faltering economy has claimed its first golf victims: the Avantha Masters, the nation’s richest golf event, and the Kensville Gujarat Challenge, a stop on the European Challenge Tour.
Neither tournament will be played in 2014. The cancellations could cost the Professional Golf Tour of India more than 40 percent of its prize money, according to the Times of India.
One other thing: Next year, for the first time since 2009, India won’t host a event on the European Tour.