PM Narendra Modi originally inaugurated the 36th National Games on Thursday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Among those present at the opening ceremony were Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel. Olympians PV Sindhu, Neeraj Chopra, and Ravi Kumar Dahiya were also in attendance.
“The largest stadium in the world is hosting the largest sports event for the nation with the youngest population. In 2014, the series of ‘first & best’ started in the country. Our youth carried that forward even in sports. Eight years back, Indian athletes participated in less than 100 international events. Now, they participate in over 300 international events,” said PM Modi at the event.
Earlier, Gujarat CM Patel hailed Prime Minister for envisioning state’s sports policy under his Chief Ministership tenure for making it a sporting hub for the country.
“Gujarat became a policy-driven state under the leadership of PM Modi. The state’s sports policy was launched by him. The development of a world-class sports university in Baroda is near completion,” Patel said at the opening ceremony.
Nearly 15,000 sportspersons, coaches, and officials from across the country will be participating in 36 sports disciplines, making it the biggest National Games ever. The sporting events will be organised in six cities of Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot and Bhavnagar.
Gujarat embarked on the journey to create a robust sports infrastructure of international standards under the leadership of then Chief Minister and current Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which aided the state in preparing for the games in a very short period of time.