Bid for 2036 Olympics takes pan-India route

● Bhubaneswar, Bhopal, Pune to join Ahmedabad

- MIHIR VASAVDA

HOCKEY IN BHUBANESWAR, rowing in Bhopal, canoeing and kayaking in Pune, cricket in Mumbai.

Although Ahmedabad remains the focal point of India's bid to host the 2036 Olympics, there have been deliberations at multiple levels in the government and bureaucracy to make the Games "a movement for the full country" by taking some sports to cities outside Gujarat, it has been learnt.

With India in "continuous dialogue" with the International Olympic Council's Future Hosts Commission, after submitting a letter of intent to host the 2036 Olympics last October, the proposal will soon be shared with the global body.

"This is something in the making. How the final picture will look, none of us know right now. We will make a plan and present it to the IOC," an official said. "We want to make it a movement for the full country."

Sports infrastructure projects worth over ₹6,000 crore are in the pipeline as Ahmedabad mounts an aggressive bid to host the Olympics. Officials said these projects "will go ahead, irrespective of whether India's bid is successful".