Rising Bharat Summit | India will be at the forefront of bidding for Olympics 2036: Anurag Thakur

"I would like sports to be kept ahead in discussions in the pecking order. It’s a soft power. We have won our best-ever haul in the Olympics, World University Games, and the Asian Games, our highest-ever tally. PM Modi has clarified, and even during the IOC session, he mentioned that India is ready for the conduction of the Olympics," Thakur said during the discussion.

"We will be at the forefront to bid when the bidding process begins. India will host the Youth Olympics in 2030 and the Summer Olympics in 2036. We will be the third biggest economy and thus we will have a lot of youth potential too," he added. It needs to be noted that this will be the first time India will be bidding for the iconic quadrennial competition.

Hailing from Himachal Pradesh, Thakur has been actively involved in sports administration in the last two decades. He has served as a four-time president of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA) and held the same post for a brief period between 2016-17 in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as well. Thakur touched upon the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala, which hosted several ICC Men's ODI World Cup 2023 matches and also the final Test of the five-match series between India and England this year.

Thakur appreciated the tourism potential that the cricketing infrastructure has brought to the state, saying, "The touring England team said that the best stadium in the world is in Dharamshala. Around 4000 people flew from the United Kingdom to see the Test in Dharamshala, which speaks volumes about the boost that it gives to the local economy of the region."