Three Indians Applied to the Las Vegas Stadium Authority Board, None Selected
Among many high-profile locals who applied to be a member of the nine-member influential Board, three members of the local Indian community – retired Engineer Subhas Dhodapkar; Entrepreneur & Civil Engineer Ram Janga; and Ashok Mirchandani, also applied and were not selected to the Stadium Authority Board.
Subhas Dhodapkar, with a Ph.D. in Marketing – Transportation & Logistics, is currently an Adjunct Professor at UNLV. Subhas has over twenty-five years management & engineering experience with the United Parcel Service. During his tenure at UPS, Subhas has worked at various management positions in Chicago, IL, Germany, and Hong Kong.
Ram Janga, is a professional engineer licensed in the State of Nevada and has 28 years of experience in planning, design, construction, project management, permitting, entitlements, consultants/contractors selections, contracts, project financing, project budget management, including all aspects of project management for office buildings, commercial buildings, land development, major infrastructure development projects, fitness centers, and others. As per his application for the Board membership, Ram has dealt with public financing and bonds and gained expertise in the permitting process for projects dealing with the local city, county, and other utility providers. Ram has a BS and MS in Civil Engineering and Nevada Professional Engineers (PE) license, with over 25 years of experience in the area.
Ashok Mirchandani, is a local businessman with experience from running his own non-profit organization applied to the Stadium Authority Board emphasizing his experience as a business owner, government official, and president of several non-profit organizations. In his resume, Ashok highlighted his over 10 years of extensive experience in the corporate sector working in the building material industry.
None of the above applicants from the local Indian community were selected to the highly political and well connected Board.
The Board will be responsible for making the Football Stadium a reality – from site selection, construction to the management of a planned $1.9 billion stadium in Las Vegas. The dome stadium will be a permanent home for the current Oakland Raiders who are planning to move to Las Vegas. The stadium will also host UNLV football games along with major concerts & events.
The Stadium was approved during a special session of the Legislature which allows funding via an increase in hotel room tax to raise $750 million to pay for the revenue bonds needed for the stadium construction. The balance of the construction will be funded by Las Vegas Sands (Venetian & Palazzo) owner Sheldon Adelson and Oakland Raiders.