India must prepare to host Olympics, figure in top 10 sporting nations in a decade: Mandaviya

Mandaviya was speaking after inaugurating the 2025 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships here, which will see 291 athletes from 28 countries competing for medals.

Ahmedabad: Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Mansukh Mandaviya said on Sunday that India must strive to organise the Olympics and find itself among the top 10 sporting nations in a decade, as envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He was speaking after inaugurating the 2025 Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships here, which will see 291 athletes from 28 countries competing for medals.

The championship, a qualifier event for the 2026 Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow, Scotland, is taking place at the newly built Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in the city’s Naranpura area.

By 2047, when India celebrates the centenary of its independence, the country must become developed and secure a place among the world’s top five sporting nations, for which an action plan has been finalised, he said.

“Sports are our heritage. About 65 per cent of our 140 crore population is below 35, and the demographic dividend is our capital. To harness this, Modiji has set a target to become one of the world’s top 10 sporting nations in the next 10 years. We also have to move ahead in the direction of organising the Olympics in the next decade,” he said.

The country is moving ahead in the sports sector based on 1-year and 5-year plans by putting together “medal strategy, targets and the best action plan to achieve the targets”, Mandaviya said.

He said that after taking over as the PM for the third time, Modi has been making reforms to develop a sports culture in the country.

He gave the ‘Khelo India’ and ‘Fit India’ slogans and launched schemes like TPO (Targeted Podium Olympic), which allows elite athletes to get the best exposure and resources in the country and the world, said the Union minister.

As part of reforms, the government has introduced a policy to prepare the roadmap for the future of sports in the country, he said.

“As the fourth reform, the Sports Governance Bill was passed in the last parliamentary session to promote transparency and accountability in sports. The bill is athlete-centric. It will ensure athletes’ primacy, women’s representation in federations, and wider opportunities for their participation in the sports ecosystem,” he said.

The bill also seeks to ensure speedy dispute resolution through a time-bound mechanism and to provide the best opportunities for differently-abled athletes, he said.

A total of 291 athletes from 28 Commonwealth countries, including 44 from India, will compete for 144 medals across various categories.

A major highlight of the championships will be the participation of Olympic silver medallist Mirabai Chanu.