Why India must mind the financial impact of hosting Olympic Games

All summer games held between 1960 and 2024 had significant cost escalations for host countries

India took the first step in its attempt to host the 2036 Summer Olympics by submitting a letter of intent to the International Olympic Commission. It will be a matter of national pride if India hosts the event but likely an expensive one.

 

All Olympic Games between 1960 and 2024 (for which data is available) faced significant cost escalations, shaking the finances of the host countries, said a recent working paper by the Oxford University. The mean value of cost overruns (in real terms) of all Olympic Games between 1960 and 2024 was 159 per cent of the cost projections, according to the paper.

 

The 2012 London, 2016 Rio and 2021 Tokyo Olympics were the costliest ever. Rio faced the largest cost overruns, in real terms of 352 per cent, in the 21st century. The fiscal impact of hosting the Olympics is well-documented with cost escalations resulting in greater tax burden on the citizens of host countries and sparking protests. Some have blamed the Greek debt crisis for the cost escalations in hosting the 2004 Athens Olympics.  

 

India's sporting infrastructure is abysmal: Just 10.39 per cent of its completed and mapped sports infrastructure are of 'Olympic standard'. Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Odisha have the most Olympic-standard sporting infrastructure.  

 

India's per capita gross domestic product (GDP) in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) is much lower than countries that have hosted the Olympics in the 21st century. The closest India comes to the per capita GDP of a host country was in 2008 when China hosted the Olympics. China had a per capita GDP of $6,720 and India of $3,290.