India aspires to be among top 5 sporting nations of world by 2047, says Mandaviya

“Demographic dividend is our capital, taking advantage of which, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has resolved to take India to the top 10 sports countries of the world in the next 10 years. We have also started working in that direction by making a plan to achieve a place in the top five sporting countries by realising the vision of a developed India in the year 2047,” he said.

The Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship 2025 is held at the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex in Naranpura from August 24 to 30. As many as 291 athletes from 30 Commonwealth countries will participate in the Commonwealth Senior, Junior and Youth Weightlifting competitions to win 144 medals.

“Since ancient times, the sports sector has been a prominent part of the society in the country and is continuously developing. After becoming the Prime Minister of the country, Narendra Modi gave the slogans of ‘Khelo India’ and ‘Fit India’. He made many important reforms, including launching a new sports policy, to prepare the country’s athletes for international level games and develop a well-organised sports culture in the country,” Mandaviya said.

Talking about the sports policy, the Union Minister said that the policy works to strengthen the sports infrastructure and eco-system by making sports accessible to all.

“Good governance has also been implemented in the sports policy under the guidance of the Prime Minister. Along with making sports governance athlete-centric, sports governance ensures that women get representation in the federations and get a chance to come into the sports ecosystem,” he said, adding that work is being done in the direction of ensuring equal representation of the differently-abled in sports.

International Weightlifting Federation President Mohammed Jalood Al-Shammari said that the event will be a qualifier for the Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow in 2026. Commonwealth Weightlifting Federation Secretary General Paul Coffa said that the international-level tournament is being organised with Olympic level preparations and infrastructure.

The CWC 2025 will be followed by the Asian Aquatics Championship 2025 in September-October, in which swimmers from countries such as China, Japan and Korea will participate. India is one of the seven host countries for the AFC (Asian Football Confederation) U17 Asian Cup Saudi Arabia 2026 Qualifiers to be held from November 22 to 30, 2025. All matches scheduled in India will take place at The Arena by TransStadia in Ahmedabad. The qualifiers to be held in Ahmedabad will host Group D matches, in which countries such as India, Iran, Palestine, Chinese Taipei, and Lebanon will participate.

In 2026, Ahmedabad will host the Asian Weightlifting Championship and the Archery Asia Para Cup – World Ranking Tournament. India will also host the World Police and Fire Games 2029, and the tournament will be held in Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Ekta Nagar (Kevadia) in Gujarat.