Mrs Nita Ambani who was present at the Leaders Week 2019, London - the most prestigious global sports leaders conclave, delivered a keynote speech based on ‘Inspiring A Billion Dreams: The India Opportunity’. Providing a glimpse of how the younger generation in India was taking giant strides in the field of sports, Mrs Ambani called upon the leaders of the global sports to see India as a land of unlimited opportunities.

“There is no reason why a nation of 1.3 billion people cannot be amongst the leading medal-winners on the international stage. It is my hope and dream to see India host some of the most iconic sporting championships in the world like the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup. I invite everyone to join us and be a part of the great Indian dream – the India opportunity.”

Also, a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Founder Chairperson, Reliance Foundation, Mrs Ambani highlighted how the spectrum of Indian sports was growing enormously, in a gathering of over 300 industry leaders representing global brands.

“New India is a land of limitless opportunities and it today presents the most exciting time for sports in India. There has never been an environment more conducive, more encouraging, more enabling for sports, than what we have in India today.”

Having started her sporting association in 2008 with the Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League, Mrs Ambani spoke about how the 2019 Cricket World Cup final garnered a total of over 180 million Indian viewers despite India not making it. She compared the same to the UK which had only 15 millions viewers.

“Now imagine if India were playing in the final,” she said.

A sublime example of the sports craze and the growth in the consumer market in India can be attributed to the IPL media rights. While the media rights for the first ten seasons went for 950 million dollars, there was a growth of 500 per cent for acquiring the media rights for the following five years, i.e. from IPL 2018.

The popularity of IPL has led to the inception of many more sporting leagues in India like football, hockey, badminton, volleyball, basketball, wrestling and kabaddi.

“I was 44, when most sportspersons retire, I entered the arena through Mumbai Indians. It changed my life, my perspective, and my worldview. From having no knowledge of cricket in 2009, to learning the nitty-gritties of the game, today after ten years, I can proudly say that we have built Mumbai Indians into the most valued team in the IPL with four IPL and two Champions League titles.”

Further, Mrs Ambani asserted how India is poised to become a sporting powerhouse in the world and hailed PM Narendra Modi for his initiatives in order to inculcate the growth of sports in India.

“We are fortunate that our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a great vision to transform India into a global sporting powerhouse. In addition to promoting Yoga globally, Prime Minister Modi has recently launched two major initiatives to promote sports. The Khelo India programme and the ambitious Fit India movement.”

“India is truly emerging as the newest and youngest sporting power in the world. The picture of the fast-changing sporting landscape offers you a unique India combined with the power of Democracy, Diversity, Development, and Demography. We are proud of being a free, open, liberal and democratic society and the new India is a land that invites all of you with open arms,” said Mrs Ambani.
Mrs Nita Ambani is also at the forefront of the Education and Sports for All (ESA) initiative, which is aimed at providing equal opportunities to children and encourage them to participate through their various programmes across the country.

Mrs Ambani said, “Our RF Youth Sports programme for schools and colleges has reached out to 9 million children. The Reliance Foundation Jr NBA programme has impacted 11 million children. Overall, across all sports, Reliance Foundation has touched the lives of over 21.5 million children across the country.”

These children from the Reliance Foundation also get an opportunity to watch Mumbai Indians in action LIVE at the Wankhede once every year. During an ESA activity earlier this year, these children also got to meet and interact with the entire MI team.

Mrs Ambani summed up her speech by mentioning the three objectives she wanted to achieve - to make sure no child is deprived of sport and hoped the ‘Right to Sport’ could be declared as a fundamental right; to see India emerge as a global sports powerhouse; and sports acting as a medium of peace, amity and understanding in the world as she paid tribute to the 150^th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.