India’s sporting ambitions are increasingly being shaped not just by athletes and coaches, but by cities and states willing to invest in long-term ecosystems. Gujarat’s vision to emerge as Indian sports capital with Ahmedabad at its centre is one of the most ambitious and structurally detailed blueprints currently underway in the country.
Far from being a collection of standalone stadiums, the plan outlined by Gujarat’s sports and urban development leadership is about integrating infrastructure, policy, talent development, and global hosting capability into a single, sustainable system .
At the heart of this approach is a clear acknowledgement of a past mistake India has often made: building “white elephant” stadiums that look impressive but remain underutilized. Gujarat’s model flips this thinking. Infrastructure is not treated as an end product, but as a living system something that must be easy to run, accessible to citizens, and directly linked to athlete development pathways.
Why Gujarat, why Ahmedabad?
The choice of Gujarat and Ahmedabad in particular as a potential sports capital is rooted in geography and connectivity. Ahmedabad sits within a three-hour flight radius from most major Indian cities, making it logistically viable for national and international events. With an international airport, a second airport coming up at Dholera, and planned high-speed rail connectivity, the city is being designed around the principle that all major sporting venues must be reachable within 30 minutes.
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This philosophy aligns with global event-hosting norms, where athletes, officials, media and spectators demand compact, efficient host cities. Beyond transport, Gujarat’s plan consciously integrates heritage zones, riverfronts, universities, police academies and technology hubs, ensuring that sports infrastructure complements urban life rather than existing in isolation.
GSID: planning before building
The Gujarat Sports Infrastructure Development Company (GSID) has been the backbone of this transformation. Initiated nearly five years ago, GSID began with a comprehensive gap analysis assessing where Gujarat currently stood, how its existing stadiums compared with international standards, and what facilities athletes actually needed.
The mandate was clearly defined: plan, develop and coordinate sports infrastructure and allied activities for talent development, while also preparing the state to host major international sporting events. Crucially, this was not a “build first, think later” exercise. Every facility was mapped to a purpose, a level of athlete, and a long-term usage plan.
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Perhaps the most important feature of Gujarat’s sports vision is its pyramid structure. At the base lies grassroots sport taluka-level facilities serving clusters of 15–20 villages. These low-cost, easy-to-maintain complexes include indoor halls, multipurpose courts, athletics tracks, swimming pools and spaces for indigenous sports like kabaddi and kho-kho.
These centers are designed not just for competition, but for daily community use, disaster sheltering and general fitness. Their impact is expected to go beyond medals improving public health, increasing participation, and identifying talent early.
Above this sit district and zonal sports complexes, offering higher-quality training environments and more specialized facilities. At the top of the pyramid are High Performance Centers (HPCs), where elite athletes train with access to sports science, data, recovery systems and world-class coaching. One such HPC is already operational in Nadiad, with another under construction in Gandhinagar, reflecting a clear progression pathway for athletes within the state.
Infrastructure alone cannot drive transformation without policy support. Gujarat’s 2022 Sports Policy outlines 13 focus areas, including governance, infrastructure, manufacturing of sports goods, private sector participation, incentives and rewards, ethics, integrity, para sports, and future-ready initiatives.
This policy framework ensures that athletes are supported not just with facilities, but with scholarships, competition exposure, education pathways and personal development. It also recognizes the importance of para and special sports, embedding inclusion into the system rather than treating it as an afterthought.
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Gujarat’s infrastructure push is not happening in a vacuum. The state has already secured the hosting rights for the World Police and Fire Games in 2029 a major multi-sport event that will test its operational readiness. Existing facilities such as the Narendra Modi Stadium, police academies and SAI centers will be upgraded with minor modifications to meet international requirements.
More significantly, Ahmedabad has been confirmed as the host city for the Commonwealth Games, with a detailed venue master plan already in place. Venues across Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Vadodara have been mapped, supported by metro lines and high-speed rail connectivity. International consultants and institutions, including IIM Ahmedabad, are conducting environmental, social and transport impact studies to ensure global compliance.
While the 2036 Olympics are often mentioned in the same breath as Gujarat’s plans, the leadership has been careful to frame this as a by-product rather than the sole objective. The stated priority remains health, participation, infrastructure quality and sports culture. The roadmap to 2036 positions Gujarat as a state that is “Olympics-ready” in terms of systems, not just ambition. Hosting the Commonwealth Games and the World Police and Fire Games is seen as part of a learning curve an opportunity to refine logistics, governance and athlete services before even considering a bid of Olympic scale.
A system, not a spectacle
What distinguishes Gujarat’s sports vision is its emphasis on usability and sustainability. Every facility from taluka complexes to national institutes of sports excellence is designed to serve athletes first, citizens second, and global events third.
The idea is simple but powerful: if children have access to quality facilities near their homes, if athletes can progress step by step within the same ecosystem, and if cities are built to support sport as daily life rather than occasional spectacle, excellence will follow naturally.
Gujarat’s experiment is still unfolding. But if executed as planned, it offers India a rare template one where sporting success is not chased in bursts, but built patiently, systematically, and inclusively.
