By Nick Butler at the Dusit D2 Resort Hotel in Phuket

India, pictured at the Opening Ceremony of Glasgow 2014, are taking a new approach to improve their sporting and administrative fortunes following their return to the Olympic fold ©Getty ImagesA process to "commercialise" the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and seek private, rather than Governmental funding, has been launched following the body's return to the Olympic fold this year, IOA President N Ramachandran has told insidethegames here.


The IOA's 14-month suspension from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) due to the election of tainted officials Abhay Chautala and Lalit Bhanot was lifted in February following IOC-approved elections in which Ramachandran, also head of the World Squash Federation, became its new President. 

That allowed athletes to march under the Indian flag at the Closing Ceremony of the ongoing Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games, whereas their two participants had appeared under the IOC flag at the Opening Ceremony.

Although there have been setbacks - most notably involving the arrest of IOA secretary general Rajeev Mehta for alleged drink driving without a license in Glasgow during the Commonwealth Games - there has also been growth in a sporting and administrative sense. 

Key to maintaining this progress, Ramachandran claims, is ensuring financial independence from the Indian Government and looking to new sources of revenue.

"The IOA has changed and our priority now is the athletes - the athlete comes first," he told insidethegames during the Asian Beach Games, which he is attending. 

"To ensure that this happens, members have realised the IOA needs to be financially independent of the Government.

"Towards this, we intend to commercialise the IOA, not in a bad sense, but in a way that could help fund the federations as well as the state Olympic committees.

"Change comes slowly anywhere in the world, and no more so than in India.

"But I have decided the IOA should change and will change, because what was good 30, 10, even five years ago is not good today."

N Ramachandran informally meeting Thomas Bach and Vladimir Putin, respective leaders of the IOC and Russia, in Sochi in February shortly after his election ©WorldSquashFederationN Ramachandran (right) informally meeting Thomas Bach and Vladimir Putin, respective leaders of the IOC and Russia, in Sochi in February shortly after his election ©WorldSquashFederation



No specific companies or deals can be revealed at this stage, although it was claimed by Ramachandran that they are "currently in active discussions".

Ramachandran, a former businessman with India Cements Limited, one of the country's largest manufacturers of cement with interests in sugar, shipping, power, trading and finance, has been WSF President since 2008 after previously heading the Squash Rackets Federation of India and the Indian Triathlon Federation.

Securing greater funding from IOC Solidarity is another target of his, with such funds to be used towards "harnessing and improving talent that exists in Indian athletes", while, in a more general sense, the need to modernise and utilise new technologies was also cited.

"All these years, no one really understood the type of funding you can get from Olympic Solidarity," said Ramachandran, whose brother N Srinivasan is chairman of the International Cricket Council. 

"For instance, it can also be obtained for the coaches.

"You send a coach an athlete for one year to a specialist training programme to improve his performance and the knowledge of his coach in modern technology."

There is clearly more work to be done, with the fact that since February when Randhir Singh lost his position as he was no longer IOA secretary general, India does not have an IOC member, an additional challenge to overcome.

Randhir Singh remains OCA secretary general but automatically relinquished his IOC position in February, meaning there is currently no Indian IOC member ©Getty ImagesRandhir Singh remains OCA secretary general but automatically relinquished his IOC position in February, meaning there is currently no Indian IOC member ©Getty Images



But Ramachandran insisted they have maintained good relations with the Government, with "greater accountability from both sides", while they have "normalised relations with both the IOC and the Olympic Council of Asia".

"People in both now feel the IOA is on an even keel and slowly but steadily improving," he claimed.