Dubai Sports City has teamed up with GMR Sports Foundation to launch a new Olympic sports training centre in Telangana, aiming to help young athletes prepare for the 2036 Olympics. The partnership will be formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Telangana government during the Telangana Rising 2047 Global Summit, scheduled for December 8 and 9.
Olympic Training Centre Inside Bharat Future City
The Olympic centre will be built inside Bharat Future City, a large-scale urban development planned by the Telangana state government. The facility will feature world-class training academies, international coaching infrastructure, and a master plan designed to support 15 Olympic sports — offering structured, long-term athlete development.
While permanent infrastructure within Bharat Future City will take time to complete, the Telangana government will provide Dubai Sports City and GMR Sports with access to existing stadiums so that training can begin within a month of the MoU signing.
Telangana's 2036 Olympics Ambitions
Speaking at Sports Tech Podium 2025 at T-Hub, Jayesh Ranjan, Special Chief Secretary of Telangana, said that work on the master plan will begin soon after the signing. He added that the state ultimately aims to achieve representation in "40–45 Olympic sports," directly supporting India's ambition to host the 2036 Olympic Games.
"We want action to start on the ground as early as possible," Ranjan said, underlining the urgency of the initiative.
Commercial Model, Not Government Grants
The Telangana government will not provide direct financial grants to Dubai Sports City or GMR Sports. Instead, the organisations will be given opportunities to develop commercial revenue streams connected to the broader sports ecosystem — a public-private partnership model that ties financial returns to the success of the programme.
India's Untapped Sports Potential
Industry experts believe India is still significantly underperforming in sports participation. Ratnakar Samavedam, CEO and Managing Partner of Hyderabad Angels, noted that only "10% of the population plays sports casually" and just "0.01% competes seriously," while cricket dominates national attention with 655 million fans.
Increasing grassroots sports participation, Samavedam argued, could unlock major economic opportunities across India's rapidly growing sports industry — making this Dubai Sports City–GMR collaboration a landmark step in that direction.
