Indian organisers of the Commonwealth Games have left foreign contractors and sports bodies with millions of dollars of unpaid bills, business owners and diplomats said yesterday.

Several hundred containers of equipment were also impounded in India after the Games.

Contracting companies say they have been unable to contact officials whose e-mail addresses and telephone numbers were cancelled.

Firms in Australia, Britain, France and Germany are among those owed money, officials in New Delhi said.

National Commonwealth Games associations have complained of missing refunds and travel subsidies.

A legal battle is now looming with foreign companies seeking full payment for their services plus compensation for delays, with specialist equipment often taking months to get out of India.

“Last time we told (the Games accountants) to pay everything in full that is due under all agreements,” Lalit Bhanot, secretary general of the organising committee, told AFP in New Delhi yesterday. “Now we will check what is the position and what is the problem if there is one.”

Ric Birch, the Australian impresario behind the opening and closing ceremonies, has instructed lawyers to launch a class action against the Delhi 2010 organisers.

“There were up to 15 other companies involved with the opening ceremony and many more companies involved with the Commonwealth Games overall,” Mr Birch told ABC radio in Australia yesterday.

“None of the companies have received their payments which were due under contract by the end of October.”

Mr Birch, who has produced opening ceremonies for several Olympics, said his Commonwealth Games experience had soured his view of the host country.

“We decided that India stood for: India I’ll never do it again,” he said.

Mr Birch’s company Spectak said it was owed $350,000 , while sound company Norwest Productions is owed about $1 million.

Fireworks company Howard & Sons about $300,000, plus a claim of up to $900,000 in compensation.

British diplomats told AFP that broadcasting company SIS Live was also lobbying the British High Commission to help it collect about 30 per cent of unpaid fees for producing and transmitting the Games’ television coverage.

Australian officials in New Delhi have been pushing India for months over the late payments, and Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd raised the issue with his visiting counterpart S.M. Krishna in Melbourne yesterday. Mr Krishna promised action, admitting that “some amounts are due to some agencies in Australia who helped us.”

Dozens of Commonwealth Games associations have also complained to their global federation about being left out of pocket due to unpaid expenses.

The Australian Commonwealth Games Association is owed more than $100,000 in travel subsidies, chief executive Perry Crosswhite said yesterday.

The event in New Delhi was tainted by poor organisation and unfinished accommodation for athletes. There were also corruption allegations as the estimated budget for the Games tripled to $6 billion.

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