India promises best and green Commonwealth Games

Port of Spain: Blending sports with climate change diplomacy, India on Saturday said it will hold the first-ever Green Commonwealth Games in 2010 and the best-ever sporting show and underlined that the event will propel New Delhi to a world-class city.

Suresh Kalmadi, chairman of the organizing committee of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, made the remarks at a ‘sports breakfast’ that the leaders and sports ministers of former British colonies attended.

The breakfast was held at the seaside Hotel Hyatt, where most of the world leaders participating in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) are staying.

Addressing the gathering, Kalmadi reaffirmed India's commitment to holding the best-ever Commonwealth Games and a unique event that will have environment and climate as its focus.

"We will hold the best ever Commonwealth Games and the first green Commonwealth Games," Kalmadi told journalists here.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday made a vigorous pitch for "equitable and balanced outcome" at the upcomming UN conference on climate change at Copenhagen during his intervention at a special session devoted to climate change at the CHOGM meeting.

"Environment today is a critical component. Recognising this, we will strive towards reducing the carbon footprint to hold the first-ever Green Commonwealth Games and thus become the benchmark for all multi-disciplinary games in the future," Kalmadi said at the sports breakfast.

India will invest in green infrastructure, pro-active waste management, greening and green ceremonies, Kalmadi said.

Despite skepticism expressed by some about India's preparedness for holding such a mammoth sporting event, Kalmadi conjured a robust picture of the preparations for the Games.

There are always skeptics, but we have proved them wrong again and again, Kalmadi told IANS.

Outlining the detailed preparations for the Games and its expected spinoff for the Indian economy, Kalmadi said the mega sporting event will generate $4.5 billion for India in the 2008-2012 period.

It will create 2.5 million jobs and over 100,000 tourists are expected to visit India, Kalmadi said.

The Games will leave behind a great legacy for New Delhi and for India in the areas of civic and world class facilities, thus promoting Olympics sport in the country, he said.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma and Mike Fennel, president Commonwealth Games Federation, as also sports ministers from the Commonwealth countries, attended the sports breakfast.