India’s hopes of getting the hosting rights for the 2036 edition of the Olympic Games received a much-needed shot in the arm with International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach saying that there are serious considerations about the possibility.

Impressed with the unprecedented 107 medals that the Indian contingent returned with from the recently concluded Asian Games in Hangzhou, Bach termed it a remarkable achievement of India’s athletes doing well in Olympic disciplines.

“There’s a great interest and there are apparently serious considerations in India to bid for the Games. We have to wait now how this will turn into a project and will be brought forward to us. Only then we can form an opinion,” Bach said on Tuesday.

“If you look at the medal haul in this Asian Games, it’s really remarkable. You can see that it’s not only shooting any more, India has medals in different disciplines that are more widespread,” he added.

Currently in India for the 141^st session of the IOC this weekend, the 69-year-old also spoke of his interest in T20 cricket, which awaits the final nod from the IOC to make its way into the Olympic fold after being nominated by the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic organizers.

“The IOC’s programme commission had a meeting to look into this proposal. It will be brought forward to the executive board meeting in Mumbai. Then the board will have to make a recommendation at the IOC session, which will then vote. But what I can say is that I’m a fan of T20 cricket,” he said.

“The sport has a certain representation in all five continents. This is not necessarily true for every sport that we have on the Olympic programme. So this is a good space to develop it further within the continents. If we’re talking about 2028, there is time to grow,” he added.

On being asked if the corruption fiasco involving the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi would be a dampener in India’s dreams of hosting the Olympic Games, the German said, “You cannot fault such a young nation responsible for events where a majority of the people were not even born yet. The India of today cannot be compared with the India of 2010.”

Bach, however, did not mince words in urging the Indian Olympic Association to get its house in order if they plan to conduct big-ticket tournaments like the Olympic Games.

“But what will play a role is the situation of the IOA, because it is our agency in India. And when it comes to Olympic candidature, only the National Olympic Committee can sign the candidature contract. This is why we must have confidence in the governance of IOA,” he cautioned.

“We have seen some movement. We hope and we will take the opportunity of our visit here to have more talks so that this progress continues. Then, we can have confidence in IOA,” he said.