Sun, 17 May 2026
India News Updated May 17, 2026 · 14:07

74th Fit India Cycle Drive Sees 50,000 Join Nationwide

The 74th edition of Fit India Sundays on Cycle saw 50,000 participants at 5,000 locations across India. The event in New Delhi featured a fun sports zone with activities like badminton, chess, and tug of war. Since its launch in December 2024 by Union Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, over 32 lakh fitness enthusiasts have participated. Officials from GST and Customs departments joined, citing Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for a healthy lifestyle.

Recreational activities, fun sports zone adorn 74th edition of Fit India Sundays on Cycle

New Delhi, May 17

The 74th edition of the Fit India Sundays on Cycle saw enthusiastic participation of 50,000 individuals at 5000 locations across the country. The cycling drive was organised in association with Goods & Services Tax and the Customs Departments of the Government of India.

A plethora of recreational activities were also parallelly organized along with the cycling initiative, like Yoga, rope skipping and Zumba, as per a press release from the Sports Authority of India (SAI).

In New Delhi, the event was conducted at the iconic Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, which witnessed a turnout of over 800 individuals, including officers from the GST and Customs departments, along with the general public from all age groups.

A fun sports zone was also created prompting the public to try out options like badminton, chess, carrom and ludo etc. Lemon race, ball game, tug of war, squat challenge and push-up challenge were also conducted.

Started by Union Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports Dr Mansukh Mandaviya in December 2024, the cycling movement has witnessed participation from 32,38,234 fitness enthusiasts till now across 3,07,852 locations in 74 editions.

Talking about the initiative, Manish Kumar, Chief Commissioner (Customs Department) said: "Following the clarion call by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi to adopt a healthy lifestyle, the officers and employees of the GST and Customs Departments have become part of the Fit India movement. We all know health is our biggest property. If you are healthy, you will be able to complete your task properly."

Echoing the sentiment, Narendra Kumar Yadav, Additional Director (GST) and Fit India Ambassador, said cycling is also plays an important role in controlling air pollution. "This is our regular event of Fit India Sundays on Cycle. As I am the brand ambassador for Fit India, we organise the cycling event every Sunday across the country. As PM Modi has appealed to people, cycling is important for not only our health and environment, but also for the economy of our country, as it is helping us save fuel," Yadav said later.

Fit India Sundays on Cycle is organised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) in collaboration with the Cycling Federation of India (CFI), Indian Rope Skipping Federation, Yogasana Bharat, Raahgiri Foundation, MY Bikes and MY Bharat. The cycling drive is conducted simultaneously across all States and Union Territories, including SAI Regional Centres, National Centres of Excellence (NCOEs), SAI Training Centres (STCs), Khelo India State Centres of Excellence (KISCEs) and Khelo India Centres (KICs).

— ANI

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Reader Comments

A
Arjun K
Nice initiative but 50,000 participants across 5000 locations seems a bit stretched. I cycled with my group in Bangalore and we were maybe 30 people. Still, every bit helps. Cycling is good for health and environment both. Hope they keep expanding reach beyond metros.
J
James A
As someone who moved to India from the US, I find these community cycling events wonderful. Back home, cycling is mainly a sport, but here it's becoming a family affair with games, Zumba, yoga all together. My kids learned to skip rope Indian style! 🇮🇳
V
Vikram M
Impressive numbers: 32 lakh participants across 3 lakh locations! But I wish they'd publicize these events better. I only heard about it through a WhatsApp forward. The government spends so much on promoting schemes, but ground-level awareness is poor. Still, great work by SAI.
S
Sarah B
Love that they included chess and carrom in the sports zone! Not everything needs to be high-intensity. Some of us prefer brain games over burpees. The mix of traditional and modern activities makes this truly Indian. Well done, team! 👏
R
Rohit P
My only concern is that these events are usually in big cities. What about smaller towns and villages? That's where real India lives. Also, GST and Customs officers joining is fine but what about common tax payers who fund all this? Anyway, happy to see people moving.

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