India announced today (Thursday) that it plans to submit a bid to host the 2036 Olympic Games and will campaign for hosting rights at next year's International Olympic Committee (IOC) meeting.
Sports Minister Anurag Thakur told the Times of India newspaper that it was the "right time" for his country to host the biggest sporting event in the world.
"If India invests so much effort to promote the sport, I can assure you that we will not only host the Olympics, we will host it in a big way," he said in an interview.
Narendra Modi's government is vying to establish India as a global sports power.
The host city that is expected to be on the agenda is Ahmedabad, Modi's home state, where the largest stadium in the world is located, which opened in 2020 and is named after the leader.
The stadium in question can accommodate 132 thousand spectators.
Thakur indicated that a roadmap outlining Ahmedabad's path to hosting the Games will be presented at the IOC meeting next September in Mumbai with the full backing of the government.
It should be noted that the IOC has already granted hosting rights for the next three Summer Olympics to Paris, Los Angeles and Brisbane.
If India's bid goes through, it will become only the fourth country in Asia to host the Games after Japan, South Korea and China.
India previously hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2010, but the event was deemed a failure following widespread allegations of corruption and mismanagement.
Several other countries have announced their intention to bid including Indonesia, South Korea and Qatar, which recently hosted the World Cup.
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