Star Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar has returned the BMW presented to her by Sachin Tendulkar after the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, and has bought a Hyundai Elantra with the Rs 25 lakh she received.
The 22-year-old, who was presented the BMW by Tendulkar as a gesture of appreciation for her fine show at Rio, returned the luxury car due to the poor condition of roads in Agartala. Another reason for Dipa doing away with her brand new car was the absence of a service centre in her hometown.
The BMW, which was handed over to Dipa by Tendulkar, was in fact gifted to her by the Hyderabad District Badminton Association.
"There is no showroom or service centre of BMW car in Tripura. If the car developed any technical snag during driving, how would I repair this? There are also not sufficient suitable roads in Agartala and other places of the mountainous state to ply the luxury car," Dipa told IANS at the time.
"Sir (her coach Bisheshwar Nandi) discussed these matters with V. Chamundeshwarnath. He agreed to deposit money equal to a BMW car cost to my bank account. We would be happy whatever amount they give instead of the BMW car," she added.
"Her family bought a car (Elantra) recently, and it was a brand that has a service centre in Agartala," Karmakar's coach Bisweswar Nandi was quoted as saying by the Hindustan Times after she finally managed to get purchase her new car.
Dipa, who missed a medal by a whisker, had finished fourth in the vault event at Rio and stunned the world by attempting the risky Produnova vault.
Rio Olympics silver medallist PV Sindhu, bronze medal winning wrestler Sakshi Malik, badminton coach Pullela Gopichand and Dipa were presented with BMW cars by Tendulkar at a function in Hyderabad. Tendulkar was the Goodwill Ambassador of the Indian team at the Olympics.
