The plans for a return of the Indian Grand Prix to the F1 calendar have received a significant boost. The country’s Sports Ministry has now revealed plans to set up a dedicated task force to create a roadmap for bringing the sport back to India.
Talks around the Indian GP potentially returning gathered steam in recent months as multiple reports came out suggesting that the country’s government is interested in bringing the sport back to its shores. Speaking in an interview recently, FOM chief Stefano Domenicali also confirmed the interest, adding that the sport is actively exploring the idea, with a return potentially imminent in the mid to long-term future.
Now, plans for India’s F1 return have received a significant boost, as the country’s Sports Minister, Mansukh Mandaviya, has announced plans to set up a designated task force to evaluate India’s “motorsports ecosystem” and prepare a framework to bring F1 back to the Asian country. He also confirmed that the government aims to bring the sport to India by 2028.
“The Task Force will evaluate the international, economic, tourism, and investment benefits arising from hosting major motorsport events in India. It will also identify key priorities, infrastructure requirements, and operational needs necessary for the sustainable development of the sector and submit its recommendations to the Sports Ministry,” said Mandaviya [via the Press Trust of India].
“The idea is to have a Formula One race in India by 2028 and for that a necessary framework would be put in place by next year.” he added.
Mandaviya also said that the move will specifically emphasize “encouraging and supporting regional and grassroots” development of motorsport in the most populous country in the world.
Previously, the Indian GP was held at the Buddh International Circuit, running in consecutive years from 2011 to 2013, with all three editions won by Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel.
F1 boss “guarantees” sport’s return to India without committing to timeline
FOM CEO and President Stefano Domenicali said in a recent interview that he can “guarantee” that F1 will return to India one day. But the Italian executive stopped just short of committing to a timeline.
Speaking to India’s official F1 broadcaster, FanCode, Domenicali shared the interest from his side in returning to India.
“Well, I can only say, without creating false expectations, that there is a big interest from us to return to India,” said Domenicali.
“There is not yet a fixed date on which we can really say something, but we see the interest that is growing at all levels,” he added.
Domenicali also reiterated that the return would have to be under the right circumstances.
“It is very important to say that we need to feel the interest from all the stakeholders in India because this is a project that, when we return to your country, has to be big,”
The 61-year-old added that due to these factors, the potential return of the Indian GP will not be in the “very short term”, as he set out a rough five-year plan for it. This would be in contrast to the Indian Sports Minister’s plans, who has stated that the government aims to bring the race back as early as 2028.
Edited by Samyak Sharma