New Delhi: India is interested in hosting the 2030 Commonwealth Games and is planning to send a letter of intent to the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), according to a top official in the Sports Ministry.
India has also spoken to CGF to see if it can organise the 10 sports that has been removed from the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games programme. Most of these sports — wrestling, shooting, table tennis, badminton, squash, archery, hockey, T20 cricket — are major medal-winning disciplines for India.
It has been learnt that Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya spoke to Commonwealth Games Federation President Chris Jenkins during his recent visit to India regarding this.
“India is interested in hosting the 2030 CWG. A formal proposal will be sent in March. India has also said it is ready to hold competitions in 10 sports that have been left out from Glasgow 2026 in India. All these sports add to India’s medal count and we don’t want to lose out on that,” the sports ministry official said.
“CGF said they don’t have any problem (on 2026) but it is a call of the Glasgow organisers as they have the hosting rights. India are in talks with CGF and Glasgow and is doing its best to see that these sports are held in India so that we don’t lose out our medal winning disciplines,” the official added.
India is keen to propose a multi-city programme for the 2030 CWG and the details of the proposal are being finalised, it has been learnt.
India have hosted the Commonwealth Games only once before, in 2010, when Delhi hosted the sporting extravaganza.
With India keen to bid for the biggest sporting spectacle in Olympics in 2036, CWG 2030 is being seen as a preparation towards that. The Commonwealth Games ran into trouble after CGF found it difficult to find a host for the 2026 edition. Australian state Victoria pulled out of hosting the 2026 edition due to cost escalation.
A second Australian city, Gold Coast, then offered to co-host the event but later withdrew, throwing the organising of CWG in uncertainty. The Games were saved with Glasgow stepping in to host the CWG for a second time after 2014. However, the sports programme was massively curtailed.
From 20 disciplines in Birmingham 2022, Glasgow 2026 (July 23-August 2) will feature a 10-sport programme across four venues within an eight-mile corridor. The sports programme include athletics and para-athletics, swimming and para-swimming, artistic gymnastics, track cycling and para track cycling, netball, weightlifting and para powerlifting, boxing, judo, bowls and para bowls, and 3×3 basketball and 3×3 wheelchair basketball.
In Birmingham too, shooting and archery were dropped and it caused a dent in India’s medal tally. India had threatened a boycott before making a unique proposal of organising the two disciplines in Chandigarh.
The CGF initially approved the proposal but left it out of the final sports programme saying there will no “direct link” between competitions in Birmingham and Chandigarh as there was no “co-hosting arrangement”. Eventually, the plan was dropped due to uncertainty during COVID period.
Transparency in selection process
Meanwhile, the sports ministry has decided to make all selection trials an on-camera process which will be conducted under the aegis of the ministry and Sports Authority of India (SAI) officials.
“These steps are being taken to ensure transparency in selection process. It will be made mandatory for every National Sports Federation to follow,” said a ministry official.
In another development, recognised NSFs will be provided office spaces in stadiums across Delhi to enhance coordination and athlete support.
