India’s sports economy at inflexion point; could 2036 be the Olympian catalyst?

Achanta Sharath Kamal (Olympian, Vice Chairperson, Athletes Commission, IOA), Hari Ranjan Rao IAS (Secretary, Sports, Government of India), Devendra Jhajharia (President, Paralympic Committee of India) and Panel Moderator K.C. Vijaya Kumar (Sports Editor, The Hindu) at SPORTSTAR KPMG PLAYCOM BUSSINESS OF SPORTS SUMMIT 2025 in New Delhi on September 13, 2025
| Photo Credit:
SHASHI SHEKHAR KASHYAP

“In the ministry we are talking about one corporate, one sport,” said Sports Secretary Hari Ranjan Rao describing the ideation going on to create the infrastructure and athlete training for Olympics 2036, should India win the bid to host the Games. He was speaking at a session titled ‘Gameplan 2036’ at Playcom 2025, a Sportstar-KPMG business of sports event.

Private sector play

Rao said that while the government could easily handle capital expenditure and infrastructure creation, the private sector must step in to cover the gaps in training of athletes, getting sports science specialists, and good foreign coaches.

The two-day event held in Delhi’s glitzy Bharat Mandapam was an exhaustive exploration of the commercial viability of sports as well as making sports a way of life for every Indian. Government officials, corporates, sporting league owners, athletes, start-ups and techies weighed in on the revenue-generating opportunities in sports, the sporting career path, the route to winning more international medals and the disruptive potential of AI.

And, significantly, much of the discussion centred around sports other than cricket!

New sports

A fascinating session was on new sports that have exploded – from pickleball to the panja (arm wrestling league) – and how they have redefined the topography of sporting business.

From the current $19 billion, much of which is dominated by cricket, India’s sports industry is all set to reach nearly $50 billion, said Prasanth Shanthakumaran, Head of Sports Sector, KPMG India, unveiling Sportlight, a report on the business of sports, jointly put together by the consulting firm with Sportstar. He said if India wins the hosting rights of Commonwealth Games 2030 and Olympics 2036, then it will give a huge impetus to the business of sports.

The buoyant tone was further set by Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, who said that by 2047, when Independent India turns 100, the goal is the country should be among the top five sporting nations in the world.

Way of life

The two-day event was kickstarted with an inspirational address from ‘Payyoli Express’ IOA President PT Usha who said that the dream is to make sports a way of life for every Indian. That dream seemed likely when cricket legend Kapil Dev took the stage and talked about the changes he was seeing in India’s sporting outlook.

In his time, he said, if kids took time off from studies to play sports, they would be thrashed, but now parents were urging their wards to play sports. But reality bites intruded during the session titled ‘Purpose Play: CSR, Inclusion & Sport for All’, when corporates involved in sports development talked about the challenges.

Many challenges

“Sport is not an area where you can expect results in one, three or even four years. You have to stay invested for nine or 10 years to bring about real change and create a sustainable model,” Anupam Nidhi, CSR Head, Vedanta and Hindustan Zinc, said.

Neelam Babardesai, Head of Sports at Tata Trusts, however, talked about how community-driven models can be self-sustaining and need not depend solely on corporate backing, citing the example of an initiative they did in Mizoram in which the citizens took over.

Published on September 13, 2025