AHMEDABAD'S QUEST FOR GLORY

AS THE CITY PREPARES TO HOST THE CENTENARY COMMONWEALTH GAMES IN 2030, IT TAKES A CRITICAL STEP TOWARD THE 2036 OLYMPIC AMBITIONS—AN OPPORTUNITY SHAPED AS MUCH BY RISK AS BY RESOLVE

- By JUMANA SHAH

IN the vast hall of the Commonwealth Sport General Assembly in Glasgow in late November, beats of the dhol suddenly filled the air and garba dancers swept across the floor—an exuberant flourish after Ahmedabad was officially declared host of the 2030 Commonwealth Games. For Gujarat's deputy chief minister Harsh Sanghavi, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) chief P.T. Usha and other officials present, the moment carried little surprise. What it sharpened instead was the sheer scale of the task ahead.

That sense had been building for weeks. Once the Executive Board of Commonwealth Sport recommended Ahmedabad in mid-October, the Glasgow ratification was a formality. Yet 15 years after India’s bruising experience hosting the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi—an edition marred by cost overruns, collapsing infrastructure and political scandal—the country is effectively being handed a second chance. And this time, officials insist, the stakes extend far beyond an 11-day sporting spectacle.

Branded as Amdavad 2030, the centenary edition of the international multi-sport event has placed a non-metro city at the forefront of India’s global sporting ambitions and will serve as a crucial rehearsal for its ambitious bid to host the 2036 Summer Olympics. “The [Commonwealth] Games will accelerate Amdavad’s emergence as India’s premier sports hub,” the Gujarat government had said in its proposal. Prime Minister Narendra Modi underscored the national aspiration, posting on X that India was now “firmly on the global sporting map”. Yet Amdavad 2030 will be judged not just by spectacle, but by governance, finance, sporting depth and execution. For India and Ahmedabad’s Olympic dream, it is both proving ground and pressure point.

HOW AHMEDABAD WON