India May Bid for 2024 Olympics

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is reportedly keen that India hosts the 2024 edition of the Olympics. He is expected to discuss the possibility of the country bidding for the biggest sporting event of the world with International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach when the German visits New Delhi later this month.

While India has never hosted the Olympics, PM Modi is keen that the sports spectacle comes to the country. Sports secretary Ajit Sharan confirmed to NDTV that he already met IOC officials in Laussane last month to initiate talks on the matter. (Also read: Rio 2016 Olympic tickets go on sale)

Even IOC chief Bach is learnt to be keen that India play a greater role in international sports events. "How can we ignore a country of 1.2 billion people?" Bach, who will visit the capital on April 27, has been quoted as saying. "IOC is much more flexible and understanding now in considering venues, and is happy to have talks with Indian officials and stakeholders here during his visit." (Related: IOC opens its doors to 'complete transparency')

It is also believed that Ahmedabad may emerge as the chosen city for the games although no venue has been formally discusses as yet. The last date for submitting application is in October, 2015 while the IOC will shortlist possible host cities by May, 2016. The host city will be officially named in July 2017.

India's previous date with a major sporting event was in 2010 when New Delhi hosted the Commonwealth Games. While the event itself was largely successful, there were countless controversies in its run-up with charges of corruption and delayed construction flying thick and fast.

The Olympics are an even more prestigious event with the 2016 edition being hosted by Rio de Janeiro and the 2020 edition being hosted by Tokyo. The 2024 edition has also generated a lot of buzz with several countries expressing an interest in hosting the event.While Rome in Italy and Hamburg in Germany have expressed their interest and are the official applicants so far, there are several other potential bidders as well - Kenya and Morocco in Africa, Doha, Malaysia-Thailand in Asia and France, Russia, Hungary and Turkey in Europe. Los Angeles in USA may also bid for the games.

(With inputs from Suprita Das)