India's Olympics 2036 Dream May Cost Up To A Whopping Rs 64,000 Crore: Report

India has time and again reiterated its desire to host the 2036 Summer Olympics. In October, last year, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA)  formally sent a Letter of Intent to the Future Host Commission, International Olympic Committee (IOC) expressing India's interest to host the Olympics and Paralympics Games in 2036. Now, if a latest report is believed to be true, hosting the multi-sport event could cost India between Rs 34,700 crore to Rs 64,000 crore. A brainstorming session, consisting high-level coordination committee, took place this week in Gandhinagar, where a document, titled 'Review Meeting - Preparedness towards Amdavad 2036', was presented to reiterate India's resolve to host the 2036 Olympics.

According to a report in the Times of India (TOI), which accessed the document, it was revealed that the estimated expenditure will be more than that of last year's Paris Olympics (Rs 32, 765 crore).

"The final blueprint, accessed by TOI, reveals estimated costs involved in bringing the sporting spectacle to the twin cities of Gujarat and four other cities -- namely Bhopal, Goa, Mumbai and Pune -- placing the potential expenditure in the context of previous Olympic Games editions," the report stated.

Recently, newly-elected International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kristy Coventry was expectedly guarded on India's bid to stage the 2036 Games, saying she will reveal her "ideas" on the selection of future host in coming days.

Asked if there is any chance of India's bid to be converted to "accelerated targeted dialogue" before incumbent president Thomas Bach leaves office on June 23, Coventry said, "At the end of the day there is a process in place and that process is ongoing and that will remain, as far as I know, for the next few months." "I do think that we need to involve the members in the selection of future host and I have few ideas and may be willing to share those, may be next week," she said at the press conference after her election.

She will take charge as IOC president from Bach on June 23, the Olympic Day, after three months of transition period.

More than 10 countries, including the likes of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, have expressed interest to host the 2036 Olympics, though it is not known yet how many or which other nations have officially done that.

With the submission of 'Letter of Intent', India has progressed from 'Informal Dialogue' to the 'Continuous Dialogue' stage of the host election process. In this stage, the IOC conducts a 'feasibility study' of the progress of projects associated with the Games in the potential host.

The next phase of the process would be 'Targetted Dialogue', which would require the submission of an edition-specific formal bid, which would be assessed by the Future Host Commission. The process would finally end with a host election.

A decision on the 2036 host is unlikely to come before 2026.

(With PTI Inputs)