"We will try to bring back F1 in India by 2028": Sports Ministry Sources
New Delhi, June 20
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has created a task force which monitors motor sports with a vision to bring back Formula 1 racing in the country by the end of 2028.
"We will try to bring back F1 in India by 2028. For this, we created a task force which monitors motor sports in the country and submits its report to the Ministry," an MYAS source told ANI on Saturday.
Earlier on Thursday, Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) President Arindam Ghosh attended a meeting with the Sports Ministry in New Delhi and said that the efforts are on to bring Formula 1 back to India by 2030, a round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) and MotoGP by 2028.
Later, at the FMSCI Annual Awards function, Ghosh said, "The meeting with Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State Raksha Khadse, senior officials and potential stakeholders in New Delhi, focused primarily on bringing F1, MotoGP and a round of the WRC to India."
"The Federation stressed the need to develop Indian drivers and the overall development of motorsports in India, and the FMSCI's inputs were well received," he added.
At the Awards Night in Bengaluru, all the Motorsports National champions for 2025 were honoured, and 137 trophies across 17 disciplines, both two-wheelers and four-wheelers, were presented. Awards were also given to the winning teams, promoters and sponsors of the 17 National championships.
The youngest National champion at 9 years, Arshi Gupta of Delhi Public School, Faridabad, Eshanth Vengatesan of Chennai and Bengaluru's Ishaan Madesh bagged FIA president's medals for National karting. FMSCI also presented Special awards to recognise international achievements.
At the world stage, Hyderabad's Naveen Puligilla and Musa Sherif of Kasargod, who became the first Indian team to secure a WRC3 class podium finish at the World Rally Championship round at Rally Saudi Arabia and Aishwarya Pissay, who became the first Indian woman to win a round of the FIM Women's Circuit Racing World Championship (2WRC) in Portugal last year, were honoured.
At the Asia level, Chennai's Jagathishree Kumaresan was honoured for her third place in the Girls category at the Asian Cup of Circuit Racing in Taiwan and Muskaan Jubal for her gold in the Asia Auto Gymkhana Challenge (AAGC) mixed doubles category.
Achintya Mehrotra, who won a gold medal at the FIA Motorsport Games Gymkhana event and Aaruthran Prabhu, who won a Karting Slalom gold at the FIA Asia Pacific Motorsport Championship, were also felicitated with special awards. Tarushi Vikram was feted for her two Silver medals, one each in the Asia Pacific Motorsport Games at Colombo and AAGC.
Ashwinkumar Pandit (sporting official), CV Srinath (technical official) and Gautam Shanthappa (marshal) were awarded for their work as volunteers.
— ANI
Reader Comments
I hope this task force actually delivers results. We have so much talent - look at Arshi Gupta winning at just 9 years old! But sports ministry often announces big plans that fizzle out. More focus on grassroots development and supporting young drivers like Eshanth and Ishaan would be great.
As someone who attended the 2013 GP, it was an amazing experience. But F1 is incredibly expensive - hosting fees alone are around $40-50 million per year. The government needs to assess if this is the best use of funds compared to other sports. Would rather see investments in cricket infrastructure in smaller towns or Olympic sports.
Great to see FMSCI pushing for this! And big congratulations to Naveen Puligilla and Musa Sherif for their historic WRC podium - first Indian team to do that! 🏆 Aishwarya Pissay also making us proud as first Indian woman to win a round of Women's Circuit Racing World Championship. We clearly have talent, just need the platform.
I appreciate the ambition but 2028 seems optimistic given where things stand. The Buddh circuit needs major renovation - last I heard it was being used for storage and farming! 😅 Focus should be on developing a sustainable motorsport ecosystem first. Hosting WRC and MotoGP alongside F1 is smart though - more variety attracts different audiences. Let's see what the task force recommends.
This is good news but I hope they don't repeat past mistakes. The 2011-2013 Indian GP had disputes over tax exemptions for F
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