Ahmedabad, Sept 29 Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared open the 36th National Games 2022 at the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Thursday. “Any country’s progress and its respect in the world, is directly related with its success in sports,” Modi told the gathering of sportspersons, students and youth from across the country.

“Most countries that are at the top in the economy and development, are usually found to top the medal list too!” Modi said, emphasising the importance of a robust sporting culture in the country.

He said while the government has intensified the spend on infrastructure development for sports, the sports budget has increased by 70 per cent in the past eight years. “Till 8 years ago, Indian players participated in less than 100 international sports, whereas today they participate in over 300 international events. India’s medals tally is rising too,” Modi said, referring to India’s recent performance in the Tokyo Olympics and the Thomas Cup. among others.

Before his address, Modi along with Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel hopped on to an open jeep to take a round of the giant Narendra Modi stadium, waving to charged-up crowds, with the song ‘Suno Gaur Se Duniya Walon’ being performed live by Shankar Mahadevan and his band. The crowd at the stadium, with a capacity of 1.1 lakh, comprised mostly of students from schools and colleges in different districts of Gujarat.

Gujarat approached the Indian Olympic Association just three months ago to organise the 36th National Games 2022 The Games are being conducted across six cities -- Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhavnagar and Gandhinagar, with over 7,000 athletes from 36 states and UTs participating in 36 sporting events. Government officials claimed this was be highest number of sporting events in any edition of National Games. A massive activation campaign was conducted at 33,000 schools and 2,500 universities/ colleges of the State to sensitise people about the Games. The 2022 games bear significance as it is being organised after a gap of seven years, and manyIndian athletes who have played internationally in recent years have not yet played in National Games.

Ace sportspersons and athletes Olympic Gold medallist and javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, Olympic medallist shooter Gagan Narang, badminton star PV Sindhu, Tokyo Olympian and CWG medalist Saikhom Mirabai Chanu and Olympian Anju Bobby George were in attendance, besides players from different domains of sports from across the country. Students from across the State performed in the inaugural ceremony.

Modi started his two-day visit on Thursday from Surat, where he laid foundation stones for development projects worth Rs 3,473 crore, including a water supply project, a drainage project, a bio-diversity park and a DREAM City project to boost diamond trade of the city. Later in the day, the Prime Minister visited Bhavnagar in Saurashtra and launched development works worth Rs. 5,200 crore, that included a CNG Terminal, brownfield port project and water supply projects, among others.

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