They will be joined by the sides having been relegated from the 2008–09 I-League, Mohammedan Sporting from Kolkata and Vasco from Goa.
Eight teams will vie for a place in the next year ONGC I-League as Second Division final round goes underway from 30 April at the KSFA Stadium, Bangalore.
With two last year relegated teams (Mohammedan Sporting and Vasco SC ) and with six qualifiers from the preliminary round viz.
NISA (Manipur), ONGC (Mumbai), Sesa Football Academy (Goa), Oil India (Assam), Malabar United (Kerala) and the local side HAL (Bangalore) the final round is all set to be a blockbuster event.
The most surprising team of the lot was without a doubt Kerala based side Malabar United, who kept their domination in the Group A even with the likes of HAL, SBT and BEML.