When should India host the Olympics?

[Rage]

Of course, we can have infrastructure without Olympics. There's no doubt about that.

I'm talking about the pace of infrastructure construction. Look at Delhi and the Commonwealth Games, any fellowman living in Delhi will affirm that Delhi was turned into a construction zone in the months prior to the event. Now, this should have been done years before instead of months, to avoid all the sickening congestion that plagued Delhi. But it speaks to the sense of urgency, that bedeviled the Government on account of the event.

We all know how Indian infrastructure projects can drag along. How two years can become three, or eight years into ten. Now, that will not necessarily all vanish because of the Games- as was seen with the last minute preparedness of the Commonwealth Games, but it will remain in the backs of the heads of officials. A deadline that is far more concrete, than say a deadline from the Central Planning Commission, which is often perceived to be frivolous.

There is an additional benefit to hosting the Olympics, and that is the creation of housing, something that politicians would not necessarily be motivated to doing in peace-time. In a country like India, we need greater capacity generation and the Olympics will act as a 'spurt' to housing, the excess capacity bringing down housing prices in the city after Olympics-time, which currently are skyrocketing because of the supply constraint. The Olympics incentivizes the need to reduce red-tape, as it does with other infrastructure projects as well.

Of course, there's a flip side to the rapid infrastructure construction, and that is that the city turns into a mess when it is being re-constructed. But that pain will have to happen anyway, sooner rather than later. And you'd rather minimize the length of the pain, than extend it.

 

[JayATL]

India should host it when they can make a profit from it. It is business as much as prestige.

whose profit? govt profit or private institutions profit? because private institutions 99.999% of times show profit and govt almost never does. Landing on the moon is never profitable ...but.

 

[JayATL]

I don't get this.

Yes, if there are Olympics, there will be infrastructure development.

However, can we not have infrastructure without Olympics? Infrastructure does not need the excuse of Olympics. What has Olympics got to do with infrastructure anyway?

The only thing from the economic aspect is that many foreigners will come and spend money. Anyone's got any estimate as to how much it could be?

I think rage pretty much eluded to my thought in his post regrading infrastructure build up. you cannot measure the speed with which projects gets implemented,completed and diversity amongst these projects when there is an international sport of such stature. As I had cited about Atlanta, we not had great road projects but we ended as being the most connected city in the US.

a close to over 2 decades of the Bombay ( what is called bandra to worli highway?) would have been completed in under 5 years.

 

[Rage]

I think rage pretty much eluded to my thought in his post regrading infrastructure build up. you cannot measure the speed with which projects gets implemented,completed and diversity amongst these projects when there is an international sport of such stature. As I had cited about Atlanta, we not had great road projects but we ended as being the most connected city in the US.

a close to over 2 decades of the Bombay ( what is called bandra to worli highway?) would have been completed in under 5 years.

Just a minor point: the Bandra-Worli sea-link was conceived in 1999 and completed in 2010. It was expected to take between 5 and 6 years to complete, but took so long because of land-reclamation and public-interest-litigation.

The PIL's, while having its drawbacks, actually served to create a sense of environmental awareness. Mumbai, being what it is- a chain of seven large islands, cannot afford to go berserk and have its environment f^cked up. Ever since then, the officials have actually taken a serious view of the issue and have planted mangroves wherever there has been land reclamation. So it's not the ideal example.

A better example would probably be: the Mumbai monorail project, which is already 3 months overdue and is expected to be finally<finally!> completed this year. That would've been done much faster, if the MMRDA perceived their reputation was at stake <among foreigners> and that there was a greater incentive to the issue. All the PIL's would've got done in a days work.

 

[JayATL]

^^^ 1999? I was going to Bombay Scottish School@ Mahim in the 80"s and that's when I heard they were starting plans to build one. maybe the actual plans were completed and locked in by 1999? I don't know...

P.S- I want to see pictures of the monorail, sounds cool. See my parents or my brother never tell me this stuff, well we don't discuss infrastructure projects on the phone

 

[Rage]

1999. Indeed. The 3 Gorges dam was conceived in 1919, but construction work began only in the 1940's. Hence the dam took 60 years to complete. Plans are always envisioned in the air, but the only dates of any relevance are the ones from which they are begun constructing. The same is true withmany other projects: ideas are always envisioned, connectivity is envisioned well in advance.

You can see more of it here:

http://defenceforumindia.com/showthread.php?t=6796&page=10

 

[JayATL]

thanks I went to official site. it looks like the MARTA Atlanta was an influence. I hope they keep it up and working and not too many out of order signs after the first 6 months.

 

[Blackwater]

NEVER

 

[rock127]

NEVER

Lets be hopeful... i say 3050.

 

[Novice]

However controversy ridden, It is said the ground preparation of commonwealth games in some aspect was far better than London Olympics. I would start thinking about it sometime soon.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Can India keep the lights on?

Super Bowl Power Outage: Lights Go Out At Superdome During Ravens-49ers Super Bowl

 

[Armand2REP]

Sports infrastructure surely isn't useless.

It appears to be the case in post-Olympic China.

Empty Nest: Beijing's Olympic Stadium Is a Vacant 'Museum Piece' - Jordan Weissmann - The Atlantic

 

[Daredevil]

Most of the cities which conducted Olympics had lots of financial problems later and some went to the verge of bankruptcy. Athens of Greece is a good example..

It should be avoided at all costs.

 

[warriorextreme]

We should first concentrate on winning some medals...

 

[datguy79]

Just hijacking this thread to remind everyone that the SAFF games start Feb. 13th in New Delhi. Go and support your local athletes

 

[Sakal Gharelu Ustad]

India should dare to host the 2024 Olympics | Firstpost

A few days before the Commonwealth Games (CWG) were to open in India in 2010, I met with the Prime Minister to present him a copy of my book, Superpower? The Amazing Race Between India's Hare & China's Tortoise. The PM was in a pensive mood, unhappy at the "ugly mood" outside, since the world believed that India had failed with the logistics. Indeed, India's image lay battered and bruised, as a raucous media focussed on "scams" and "leaking roofs". But just a few kilometres away, a spanking new international terminal had come up in record time, built by Indians under the same logistical constraints that were being brutalised for the CWG fiasco. So clearly, contrary to popular commentary, India hadn't failed – a private company had delivered a logistical marvel, while a crumbling government apparatus had fallen woefully short. And the other day, a colleague of mine was waxing eloquent about his trip to Ahmedabad. He told me about concrete walls sunk 50 feet into the river bed, where the waters of the Narmada have transformed the dry Sabaramati into a 23-km long, 275 metre wide channel like Paris's Seine, which, when fully developed, will rival Mumbai's picturesque Marine Drive. Forty hectares of land reclaimed from the river bed and bank will make up for the project cost of Rs 1,152 cr, the city's municipal corporation says. Time to bring the Olympics to India? Reuters Time to bring the Olympics to India? Reuters The point I wish to make is that India has the engineering and financial skills to make possible grand projects like the ones cited above, and Mumbai's newest terminal inaugurated just this month, proves yet again that we can deliver on global scale infrastructure projects, not merely as empty gestures of national grandeur but as economy-boosting enterprises that can yield several intangible benefits, besides jobs. So now let me just say it straight: India must dare and bid for the 2024 Olympics. And run it as a "profit generating, viable" enterprise. I know that "socialists" will pounce on me and shower the choicest epithets, calling me anti-poor, saying that we cannot afford these "silly, destructive luxuries in such an awfully poor country". As if our poverty is the perfect excuse to stay poor! Now let me make the case. This should not be a 'sarkari' event like the 1982 Asiad or the 2010 Commonwealth Games, but a for-profit endeavour executed in public-private partnership by the finest companies and managed by leaders of proven competence. Let us scout for international talent to populate the organizing committee, if necessary. Given the nature of our political economy and the venality of those heading sports bodies, such national purpose might be hard to find. But difficulty should not be a deterrent; right intentions, strong purpose, and a bar set high should throw up people of the right fit. I am of course aware of the winner's curse. Even the Los Angeles Games of 1984, which not only avoided a deficit but earned a profit of $223 million did not account for the full costs of transportation infrastructure, policing and security, says Peter Boykoff, author of 'Celebration Capitalism and the Olympic Games'. LA was also the sole candidate; there were no bidders. Peter Ueberroth, the chairman of the city's games organizing committee, did not wish to burden taxpayers, being one himself. He was confident that private enterprise would underwrite the costs, 'to enhance itself and show all that is good about mankind.' The 1992 Barcelona Games show what smart thinking and deft planning can achieve. A third of the $8 billion infrastructure-spend came from the private sector – the highest in Olympics history (It cost another $1.3 billion to stage the games). The city itself was transformed. The Poblenou industrial area at its core was rebuilt, the Olympic village was converted into housing, ribbons of roads were laid or redone, the waterways were spruced up and the airport refurbished. For four years in the run up to the games, the city began the tradition of organizing cultural Olympiads – a celebration of theatre, dance, music and exhibitions that were emulated by subsequent games hosts. Some commentators have said that 50 years of economic development was compressed into six years and the ripple effects in investor and tourist inflows have compensated. The 2008 Beijing Olympics are the costliest so far at $41 billion, but it was a preening exercise for the Chinese Communist Party. The government says the infrastructure investment would have been made anyway; the games only advanced them. There have been intangible benefits like improved English speaking abilities among ordinary Chinese, enhancement of hospitality skills and the infusion of a competitive sports spirit across the nation. The cost of the 2012 London Olympics too overshot the initial bid by three times, but the British government said it was well below the budget outlay. The Games were an excuse to revive a poorer part of the city, and are seen as a benchmark in project delivery and event management. Of course there have been expensive misadventures too. The Montreal Games were the most expensive in 27 centuries the New York Times said, leaving a debt which the city's residents would repay over 30 years. The 2000 Sydney Games left a $1.7 billion debt overhang and the 2004 games in Athens cost $11 billion, double the initial estimate because of poor planning, missed deadlines and financial mismanagement. The Greek government spends about $130 million annually on maintaining the stadiums, which The Economist magazine finds as run-down as the Parthenon but drawing fewer tourists, But India should look at the successes, and believe that it can out perform those. India could prepare to bid for the Olympics as a multi-location event by investing in productivity-enhancing infrastructure like high-speed trains and creating new cities (say a capital for divided Andhra) with principles of modern urban design (for other cities to emulate). This will incubate new enterprises just as the privatisation of highways, ports and airports at the turn of the century bred a set of private infrastructure entrepreneurs. Finally, the cost-benefit analysis of the Games should be done on modern principles – where critical infrastructure is not seen as an "expense", but an investment which creates collateral value and yields returns over decades – and not on the outdated "cash expense principles" adopted by government auditors. India has to be rebuilt, and the Olympics of 2024 could be one among dozens of sinews for that. I would urge India's next prime minister to just do it.

Does anyone know how is Delhi doing post CWG? Did it recover some investments? Are the stadiums used well and in good condition?

 

[Blackwater]

India should dare to host the 2024 Olympics | Firstpost



Does anyone know how is Delhi doing post CWG? Did it recover some investments? Are the stadiums used well and in good condition?

Kyo Mazaak kar rahe ho Bhai , a bhaai

 

[AVERAGE INDIAN]

with the money spent i think we can build one more brand new arihant class sub or may be 2 no need for Olympics for now but rather govt should encourage , provide , and sponsor good training and modern facilities for the aspiring athletics

 

[Voldemort]

Can India keep the lights on?

Super Bowl Power Outage: Lights Go Out At Superdome During Ravens-49ers Super Bowl

This happened in US. Not India.