Reliance set to host first-ever India House at 2024 Paris Olympics
The 40,000 square-foot facility will not only showcase Indian culture to the world at the biggest sporting event of them all, but will also serve as a ‘home away from home’ of sorts for the Indian athletes who will be action in the Games along with their families.
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SW had plans for an ‘India House’ in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which ultimately got scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Reuters
Reliance Foundation, principal partner of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and non-profit arm of Reliance Industries, is set to host the first-ever India House at this year’s Paris Olympics, which takes place between 26 July and 11 August.
The 40,000 square-foot facility will not only showcase Indian culture to the world at the biggest sporting event of them all, but will also serve as a ‘home away from home’ of sorts for the Indian athletes who will be action in the Games along with their families.
“From cuisine to music and textiles to jewellery, the India House will embody India’s determination for success across all endeavours, particularly in the realm of sports,” an official said on condition of anonymity, according to the Economic Times.
This will mark the first time the Indian contingent will have a dedicated hospitality house in the Olympics, which had first taken place towards the end of the 19th century.
The JSW Group had previously announced plans for an India House at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which ultimately had to be scrapped as the event took place in a bio-bubble due to the COVID pandemic.
The decision to setup India House at the Paris Games was first announced by the Reliance Foundation and the Indian Olympic Association in 2022, around the time India hosted the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) 141st session in Mumbai.
“We are very excited to host the first-ever India House at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024. It will be a great opportunity to showcase India’s immense talent, potential, and aspiration to the world,” Reliance Foundation chairperson Nita Ambani, the first Indian woman to become an IOC member, had said in 2022 during the first IOC Session taking place in India in 40 years.