AP News · IOC confirms India and Qatar as bidders to host the 2036 Olympics
Why is India competing to host the Olympics? Almost every host has run up a large net loss. The exception is Los Angeles in 1984, which used existing stadiums and private funding and, as the only bidder, had the upper hand with the International Olympic Committee. Barcelona (1992) got a boost to its infrastructure but ran up a huge debt; London (2012) revived East London at more than three times its original budget.
India has no particular advantages and faces considerable challenges. The 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi brought pride, but also cost overruns, delays and corruption scandals. More important are the opportunity costs: money and national attention diverted from critical human needs.
India's Olympics bid springs from the same impulse that launches bullet trains: a wish to show that India has arrived among the developed countries. It is the impulse that leads some Indian families to splurge on lavish weddings with borrowed money that takes a lifetime to repay.
