Ahmedabad: The Union Cabinet has cleared India’s submission to bid for the 2030 Commonwealth Games, alongside approval to sign a Host Collaboration Agreement and extend grant-in-aid to the Gujarat government if the bid succeeds, underscoring a strategic push to host marquee global sporting events in the coming decade. Ahmedabad has been positioned as the proposed host city, with officials citing its world-class venues, advanced training ecosystem, and strong sporting culture as key strengths for staging a multi-sport spectacle of this scale.
The Narendra Modi Stadium, billed as the world’s largest cricket venue, is expected to be a centrepiece after demonstrating capacity during the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup final, reinforcing the city’s readiness for high-attendance international events and complex broadcast operations. Government statements project that the Games could draw athletes from 72 nations and territories, along with coaches, officials, media, and spectators, creating a broad ripple of employment, tourism, and ancillary industry opportunities across event operations, logistics, media, IT, transport, and public relations.
Policy momentum has been building in recent weeks: the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) formally approved India’s CWG 2030 bid at a Special General Meeting on August 13, moving ahead well before the August 31 bid deadline, as reported by India Today and other outlets, including agency copy carried by major sports desks. An inspection team from Commonwealth Sport, led by Director of Games Darren Hall, recently surveyed proposed sites in Ahmedabad, with a larger delegation expected, signaling steady progress on technical and operational due diligence for the candidature phase.
The bid aligns with India’s long-term sporting roadmap, which includes the stated aspiration reiterated on multiple platforms to pursue hosting the 2036 Olympic Games, with the CWG seen as an important milestone to validate multi-sport delivery capabilities at scale. Recent hosting forays, such as the AFI’s international track-and-field meets and exploratory plans to pitch for the 2029 and 2031 World Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar and Ahmedabad respectively, further reflect this graduated strategy toward larger, more complex events.
India last staged the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010, following the 1982 Asian Games, both landmark multi-sport events in the country’s modern sporting history, often referenced as benchmarks for infrastructure and organizational learning. The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) has faced host-city headwinds in recent years, notably after Victoria, Australia, exited the 2026 edition due to rising costs, prompting Glasgow to step in with a streamlined programme of 10 sports across four venues and a fully integrated Para sport slate across six disciplines.
India has signaled interest in an inclusive CWG for 2030, indicating support for medal events that were trimmed from the Glasgow 2026 lineup; however, earlier proposals to retain all excluded disciplines were not accepted by the CGF, reflecting the federation’s cost-containment and compact-games approach for 2026. If approved, an Ahmedabad-hosted Games would aim to elevate India’s credentials as a reliable mega-event destination, catalyzing local economic activity and strengthening the platform for subsequent Olympic ambitions.