Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra Group, praised Odisha after the state was selected to host the 2028 World Athletics Indoor Championships, attributing this achievement to long-term strategic planning. The event is anticipated to attract elite athletes from across the globe to Bhubaneswar.
In a post on X, the Indian billionaire businessman congratulated Odisha for “making us proud,” emphasizing that this milestone reflects years of intentional investment in sports infrastructure and ecosystem development.
Citing the insights of renowned economist Michael Porter, Mahindra remarked that global competitiveness is often fostered through “clusters.”
“Michael Porter, the Guru of competitive strategy, described how nations build advantage through clusters: dense ecosystems where infrastructure, talent, institutions and demand reinforce each other,” Mahindra stated.
He further highlighted that Odisha has successfully activated this “flywheel.” Over the last decade, the state has become a significant sports hub in India, hosting numerous international events and investing substantially in top-tier venues and training facilities.
“The lesson is simple. You don’t bid for global events. You build ecosystems, and the world comes to you,” the business mogul noted.
The post garnered significant attention, eliciting various reactions. One user commented, “What this really shows is that sustained public-private partnership can turn a regional hub into a national sports engine, creating jobs and a pipeline for athletes long before the 2028 spotlight.”
Another user remarked, “Big wins like this look sudden, but they are built quietly over the years. Odisha stayed consistent with sports investment when others treated it as one-off spending.” A third user added, “Odisha didn’t just win a bid — they built a true sporting cluster exactly as Porter described. From the world’s largest hockey stadium to South Asia’s biggest indoor athletics arena and multiple HPCs, the flywheel is now unstoppable.”
The World Athletics Indoor Championships 2028 will take place at the Kalinga Indoor Athletics Stadium, which features a 200-meter synthetic track, an 80m+20m running track, and designated areas for pole vault, long jump, shot put, and triple jump. The stadium, which can accommodate 1,700 spectators, is the largest indoor athletics venue in South Asia.
