It was a chance to showcase Incredible India but instead all we are doing is promoting the mess that is coming to define the nation.

On a day when the Buddh International circuit, that will host the India Grand Prix, was unveiled to local and international media, the news that the Supreme Court slapped a notice on the Uttar Pradesh government over the exemption of luxury and entertainment tax for the F1 event only served as a reminder of all that is wrong in India.

We are so worried about the exemptions that we are failing to see the bigger picture. The question shouldn’t be about how much exemption we are giving the event, rather it should be about whether we can recover that amount and maybe even make some more.

For a moment, forget the fast cars and examine whether India is approaching the F1 in business terms because if they aren’t then they should. All major sporting events, whether it is the Olympics, the FIFA football World Cup, the Commonwealth Games, the tennis Grand Slams are as much about making money for the hosts as they are about sport itself.

That’s what Singapore realised and worked on since 2008 — when they hosted their first Grand Prix. They have used the event to showcase the country and built up a profile as a country that gets things done. And if tourist numbers are anything to go by, the authorities have succeeded in their objective.

According to a report in BBC, the country generated an extra S$160m in tourism revenue in 2010 as a result of hosting the race. The figure was S$93m in 2009 and S$168m in 2008.

The cost of hosting the Grand Prix is 150m Singapore dollars ($115m; £75m) per year. As much as 60% of that is being invested by the Singapore government through the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) in a bid to attract more visitors to the island nation.

And by all standards, the world’s only night-Grand Prix is a big success. The fans enjoy it, the drivers enjoy it, the government enjoys it and everyone makes money. That’s a recipe to keep everyone happy and coming back for more.

If you can do that you draw billionaires, and there are a lot of tycoons associated with the sport, to your country. There's always a chance of something impressing the big shots and making them want to be part of the dream that is India. Compared to India (GDP of 1.73 trillion), Singapore (222 billion) is tiny drop in the ocean but they are still doing it right.

Instead, we haggle about the small bits. With just two weeks to go for the Grand Prix, we still don’t have the tax issues sort of. The Uttar Pradesh government and the Jaypee group have been asked to file their replies by Friday.

The cricket World Cup saw Eden Gardens fail to get ready in time for it’s matches, the build-up for the Commonwealth Games was a mess and we are still reeling from the scams that it gave birth too and now we have an F1 problem that just doesn't seem to go away. India’s capability of hosting big events is being questioned all over the sporting world. We can’t complain – at every step, we’ve given them reason to.

The five star hotels in Delhi are already fully booked for the F1 weekend, the influx of fans from all over India will give the restaurants and the city a big boost as well. There will also be a huge influx of forex into the economy. But still we want more. At least, in this case, greed is good. The big picture is much, much better and that's what India needs to stress on.

It was a chance to showcase Incredible India but instead all we are doing is promoting the mess that is coming to define the nation -- scams, government interference and more red tape. Is this the India we want the world to see? That we see it ourselves, day in and day out, is bad enough. Isn’t it?

Watch video of the first look of the Indian F1 track