New Delhi, Apr 4: The inaugural DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) is all set to become one of the richest domestic cricket tournaments in the world offering a whopping winners' cheque of Rs 4.8 crore and an overall prize money of Rs 12 crore.

The much-anticipated and high on glamour event that has teams owned by Bollywood stars and corporate bigwigs kicks off on April 18 and will live upto its tag of being a cash-rich tourney as even the runner-up will be richer by Rs 2.4 crore and even the last-place finisher getting Rs 40 lakh.

"The Rs. 4.8 crore winners' purse makes the DLF IPL truly one of the richest events for a domestic Twenty20 league anywhere in the world," IPL Chairman and BCCI vice President Lalit Modi said.

The prize money distribution is such that even the two losing semi-finalists will earn in crores (Rs 1.2 crore) for their efforts.

The prize money will then be divided among the other teams with the team finishing fifth collecting Rs 80 lakh, while the sixth finisher will earn Rs 70 lakh.

The team finishing seventh on the league table will get Rs 50 lakh.

The IPL will kick off with Shah Rukh Khan's Kolkata Knight Riders taking on Vijay Mallya's Bangalore Royal Challengers at the Chinnaswamy Stadium at Bangalore.

The inaugural season will will have 59 matches spread over 44 days.