New Delhi, India, February 18, 2025: International Olympic Committee Member Nita Ambani has stated that it is the “right time” for India to host the Olympic Games.
Speaking last weekend about India’s bid to host the 2036 Olympics at the Harvard India Conference on Indian Business Policy and Culture, Ambani, Founder and Chairperson of the Reliance Foundation, said: “I think India is at the right time now to host the Olympics. I believe India must have the Olympics.”
Ambani continued: “We are going to be the third-largest economy in the world. If you look at the 10 largest economies of the world, nine countries have hosted the Olympics, but only India has not. So I find that really odd.
“We would like to see the Olympics being hosted in our country. It will be our pride to host that. The Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) also mentioned that India will bid for the 2036 Olympics. We are planning to host a sustainable Olympics where we are planning to refurbish and reuse our existing stadiums and existing campuses. If we get it, I can assure you it will be the greenest Olympics,” Mrs. Ambani said.
She also welcomed the decision to include cricket in the upcoming Los Angeles 2028 Olympics believing it will be a massive crowd-puller on television.
“For the Tokyo Olympics, the maximum viewership of the Olympic channel came from India, so imagine what would happen if we added cricket to it. I convinced IOC committee members that if you have cricket in the Olympics, it will attract the interest of probably two billion people,” Mrs. Ambani noted.
Cricket makes a return to the Olympics at LA28 after 128 years. The decision to accept cricket into the Olympics was made at the 141st IOC Session in Mumbai last October.