India will host the International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in 2023 in Mumbai after winning the bid at the 139th IOC session on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
India hasn’t hosted an IOC session in forty years, since New Delhi hosted one in 1983. During the session, the Indian delegation, which included the IOC member, Nita Ambani, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President, Dr Narinder Batra, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister, Mr Anurag Singh Thakur, and India’s first individual Olympic gold medalist (Beijing 2008, shooting), Mr Abhinav Bindra, made a presentation to IOC members.
Nita Ambani during her presentation to the IOC, said, “It is our ambition to host the Olympic Games in the future. I truly believe India is on the verge of creating something very special with the Olympic Movement,” she added. She also said part of India’s proposal is also to have elite sports development programmes for local communities alongside hosting the IOC session.”
The awarding of hosting rights for the IOC session to India could be the first step toward the country hosting the Olympics.
President Thomas Bach was quoted in an IOC statement, “We have chosen India because it is the second-most populous nation in the world, with a very young population and a huge potential for Olympic sport.”
The IOC Executive Board recommended Mumbai as the location for the 2023 IOC session after its evaluation commission was impressed by the facilities at the Jio World Centre.
The IOC session in India, as well as associated meetings, will take place in May and June 2023. The selection of the host country for the 2030 Winter Olympics, as well as the sports programme for the Summer Olympics in 2028, are likely to be on the agenda at this session.