It’s great to have Olympic ambitions: Abhinav Bindra

Abhinav Bindra. Pic/AFP

India's bid to host the 2036 Olympic Games is gaining some momentum. It is reliably learnt that work in relevant government departments is going on at a good pace, though a lot more is needed to be done. "Work on this [Olympic bid preparation] is progressing in the right direction," a source in the Union Sports ministry said, when asked about the developments related to India's Olympic bid.

2008 Beijing Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra was also happy that India has shown interest in bidding for the Summer Games.

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Big boost for India

"It's a great thing to have Olympic ambitions. The Olympics will have to come to India at some point, the question only remains when? It should kickstart massive development in sports across India. So much can be achieved by bidding alone," Bindra told mid-day here on Thursday.

Another source added: "Gujarat has already hired consultants. A lot of stuff is happening and everything needs to be transparent. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is leading this. They probably need to involve Nita Ambani, who is an IOC member. The bid zeroes in on Ahmedabad only so far, but they may need to propose more [cities] to the IOC."

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had last year officially expressed the nation's interest in hosting the 2036 Games and also submitted a Letter of Intent to the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Future Host Commission on October 1.

Sports Bill on the horizon

Meanwhile, it is reliably learnt that Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya is keen on bringing the Sports Bill to parliament soon.

As per sources in the Union Sports Ministry, "He [Mandaviya] is determined to bring the Sports Bill to the parliament. He is not related to any NSF [National Sports Federation] and he has very clearly said there will be no watering down of the sports code or the Sports Bill," said the source.