The agreement with India's leading diversified financial services company will cover events such as the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

It will also apply to this year's Asian Games in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang, and the 2018 and 2019 National Games of India in Goa and Chhattisgarh respectively.

Reaffirming the partnership, Edelweiss Tokio Life, the life insurance arm of Edelweiss Group, has offered a life insurance cover of INR5 million (£55,000/$77,000/€62,000) for all the athletes representing India at Gold Coast 2018, which is scheduled to take place from April 4 to 15.

"It brings me great delight to announce Indian Olympic Association's partnership with Edelweiss Group who shares our vision to make India a sporting superpower," IOA President Narinder Dhruv Batra was reported as saying by The Times of India. 

"The Commonwealth Games will set the tone for an extremely crucial second half of the Olympic cycle with major tournaments namely the Asian Games and other Olympic qualifiers and their association comes at a vital juncture for Indian sports.

"It is instrumental to have private sectors come forward to promote Indian sports and I am sure this new partnership will be a boon for our elite athletes preparing for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

"IOA is committed to ushering a new era in Indian sports and this association will undoubtedly help create desired results."

The partnership is said to be an extension of Edelweiss Group's thought of making India a "pro sports" nation. 

The Times of India reports that with this long-term commitment, Edelweiss has shown its vision to back India’s agenda towards developing a pro-sports ecosystem, in an attempt to place the country on a par with its global peers.

Rashesh Shah, chairman and chief executive of Edelweiss Group and President of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, also commented on the announcement during a press conference in New Delhi.

"More private sector players need to come forward to support eminent organisations such as the Indian Olympic Association, and help co-create and develop a comprehensive sports framework," he said.

"In order to be at part with our global peers, India needs a sports ecosystem, one which has both public and private partnerships across education, business, development, jobs, and more.

"Most importantly an ecosystem that will go a long way in securing our athletes future by offering more specialist jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities, thereby encouraging athletes to be unlimited in their aspirations and confidently come forward and play sports."

The IOA has also announced Raymond as its official styling partner and Shiv Naresh Sports as its official sports apparel partner for Gold Coast 2018.

The official ceremonial attire and official sports apparel of the athletes was revealed at the press conference.

"I am also happy to announce a first-of-its-kind association with Raymond as official styling partner and Shiv Naresh as official apparel partner for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games," Batra added.

"We at IOA wish to seek their continued support for future major events too."

Joining Batra at the press conference was IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta and chief guest Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, India's Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports.

Also present were a number of Indian athletes, including badminton player HS Prannoy, shooter Mehuli Ghosh and hockey players Manpreet Singh and Rani Rampal, the current captains of the men’s and women’s national teams respectively.