AFTER SUBMITTING a Letter of Intent to host the 2036 Olympics last October, India is learnt to have opened an “informal” dialogue with the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) to host the centenary edition in 2030 — 20 years after the country first held it.
But unlike 2010, when the Games were hosted in New Delhi, Ahmedabad has emerged as the frontrunner, with Bhubaneswar also in the mix, officials involved in the process told The Indian Express on Tuesday.
Over the last week, CGF president Chris Jenkins and chief executive Katie Sadlier travelled to multiple cities in India, meeting state and central government ministers and senior bureaucrats in Gandhinagar, Bhubaneswar and New Delhi. They also toured potential venues in Ahmedabad and Bhubaneswar.
On the sidelines of the National Games opening ceremony in Dehradun, Jenkins also met Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president P T Usha where the possible Indian bid was discussed. The IOA doubles up as the governing body for the Commonwealth Games in India.
It is learnt that during their conversation, Jenkins laid down the timelines, with March 31 being the deadline to submit an official Expression of Interest (EOI).
In a statement to The Indian Express, the CGF said: “CGF President Chris Jenkins was recently invited to attend the opening ceremony of the National Games in India, taking this opportunity to continue to strengthen ties between India, Commonwealth Games India, and Commonwealth Sport. The CGF recently put out the call for Expressions of Interest for the 2030 Commonwealth Games and beyond, and, during his visit to India, President Jenkins had some informal chats around this process.”
Jenkins spent three days in Ahmedabad last week, where he held meetings with Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, State Sports Minister Harsh Sanghavi and senior government officials. During these meetings, the state reasserted its ambition to host the 2036 Olympics and conduct multiple world, Asian and Commonwealth events in the build-up.
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Games Federation president Chris Jenkins and CEO Katie Sadlier with Indian government officials at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. (Credit: @sports_odisha/X)
Jenkins and Sadlier also visited the Narendra Modi Stadium, the soon-to-be-launched Naranpura Sports Complex and the EKA Arena. “They were quite impressed, there are no two ways about it. The preparation here is on an Olympic scale, so there were no concerns over the venues,” an official said.
Ahmedabad’s interest is in line with the state’s plan to host a slew of international multidisciplinary events and major continental, Commonwealth and world-level tournaments to gain hosting experience. The 2030 CWG is the latest on the wishlist that includes the 2027 women’s volleyball world championship, the 2028 Asian swimming championship and 2028 World U20 Athletics Championships, the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship, the South Asian Games, World Beach Games and World Military Games, among others.
The interest from India comes at a time when the CGF has found few takers to host its flagship event. In 2022, Durban was chosen as the host but the South African city later pulled out citing financial reasons. Birmingham was then named the new host.
Similarly, the Australian state of Victoria gave up the hosting rights after winning the bid for the 2026 CWG. After a Commonwealth-wide hunt, Glasgow stepped up to rescue the Games. However, unlike the previous editions, Glasgow CWG will only be a 10-sport event with a tight cap on the number of athletes to make it affordable.
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The setback forced the CGF to come up with new hosting models and, officials said, Jenkins and Sadlier impressed upon their Indian counterparts that under the new measures, host cities are no longer required to construct a special athletes’ village or build new venues.
This, the Indian officials estimated, could reduce the costs by “almost 60 per cent”. “Ahmedabad will already have a lot of venues ready in the next three to four years. These venues are being built to foster a sporting culture, regardless of whether India wins the bid to host the 2036 Olympics,” the official said.
“The Naranpura Sports Complex will be ready in March; the Narendra Modi Stadium and the EKA Arena are already there and it is hoped that the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (SVP) Sports Enclave and the facilities in Karai will be ready by then,” the official said.
As per the Gujarat government’s plan, the SVP Sports Enclave will house the Narendra Modi Stadium, a multi-purpose indoor arena, aquatics and tennis centres as permanent venues. In Karai, an athletics stadium is being constructed along with a shooting complex and an indoor arena. The deadline to complete the entire project is 2028.
