At Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, on Thursday, 30 July 2026, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini joined Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya and other dignitaries at the inauguration of the Times of India Sports, Fitness and Infrastructure Expo 2026 (SFI Expo 2026) — a platform billed as a catalyst for India's ambition to become a global sporting powerhouse.

What SFI Expo 2026 Puts on the Table

CM Saini described the expo as 'an important initiative in the direction of empowering sports, fitness, and modern sports infrastructure.' Platforms like this, he said, give fresh momentum to the goal of building a sports culture, inspiring youth toward healthy lifestyles, and positioning India among the world's elite sporting nations. The event, held at Bharat Mandapam — New Delhi's premier convention centre — drew senior government figures alongside industry stakeholders focused on sports infrastructure development.

Modi's Blueprint and Haryana's Role in It

Saini explicitly linked the expo to the broader national agenda under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, citing 'continuous work for multi-dimensional development of sports, expansion of modern sports facilities, and construction of world-class sports infrastructure.' The policy lineage runs through the Khelo India scheme — launched in 2016-17 to build grassroots talent pipelines and upgrade facilities — and the Fit India Movement of 2019, which pushed fitness into mainstream public discourse.

Haryana's stake in this story is outsized. The state has historically produced a disproportionate share of India's elite athletes, from wrestlers and boxers to Olympic medallists, making its government's commitment to sports infrastructure more than rhetorical. CM Saini reaffirmed that the Haryana government is 'committed to promoting sports, providing better opportunities to players, and creating an excellent sports ecosystem' — framing the state as an active engine, not a passive beneficiary, of the national push.

Young Athletes in Focus

The expo's convergence of sports, fitness, and infrastructure signals a shift toward treating athletic development as a pipeline, not a one-off event. Central and state governments have pursued parallel tracks — Khelo India funding grassroots identification, Fit India normalising fitness culture — and expos like SFI 2026 are where that policy intent meets private-sector capacity to build facilities. For young athletes in states like Haryana, the downstream question is whether infrastructure announcements made on expo floors translate into functional training grounds at the district level.