"It makes more sense for the IOC," said Anurag Thakur in his bid for India to host the next Olympic Games in 2036. India will be up against Spain, Mexico, Indonesia, Turkey, Poland and clear favourites Qatar. Speaking at the News9 Global Summit, Thakur was upbeat and optimistic about India's sporting development, citing notable successes in major international competitions such as the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. He highlighted these successes as indicators of India's potential to become as a top 10 sporting nation by 2036 and possibly a top 5 nation by 2047. 

"We had the largest population watching Olympic sports last time (in Tokyo in 2021) and this time it makes more sense for the IOC to award the 2036 Olympics to none other than Bharat, our India," Thakur insisted.

"Prime Minister Modi made it very clear during the IOC meeting that India is very serious about hosting the Summer Olympics in 2036, and before that, we want to host the Youth Olympics in 2030. I have a reason for saying that. If you look from sector to sector, India is doing extremely well... economically, we are the fifth largest and in the next five years we will be the third largest," said Sports Minister Anurag Thakur.

He envisions Olympic disciplines gaining widespread popularity, drawed a parallel to the trajectory of cricket in India prior to the nation's inaugural World Cup victory and the subsequent transformation in its prominence.

"The sports budget has been increased three times in the last 10 years. We have spent Rs 3,000 million (€33 million) in creating 300 sports infrastructure. 23 National Centres of Excellence (NCOEs), 69 SAI centres and 1,075 Khelo India centres have been completed. I think the time has started when the country's mindset has changed," he added.