Transforming Indian Sports Infrastructure: Insights From Gallant Sports’ CEO Nasir Ali

India’s sporting journey has often been a tale of raw talent battling against inadequate infrastructure. But change is underway—and Gallant Sports is at the heart of it. Gallant Sports is a sports and infrastructure company that promises to be the backbone of the Indian sports ecosystem in India with specialization in development, installation, management and maintenance of sports infrastructure.

With India bidding to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games and dreaming to hold the 2036 edition of the Olympics, companies like Gallant Sports will play a huge role in bringing up new sports infrastructure while at the same time refurbishing and upgrading the already existing sporting facilities.

So what does an company like Gallant Sports does? How is India’s sporting infrastructure shaping up? How India’s sports infra compares to that of a sporting powerhouse like China? What are the trends in this business?

To know the answers of all these questions, The Sportz Planet had an in depth conversation with Nasir Ali who is the founder and CEO of Gallant Sports. In the interview Nasir gave industry insights and went beyond.

Excerpts of the interview are below:

How did Gallant Sports come into existence? What was the idea behind starting it?

Nasir Ali: You won’t believe it, but I’ve been in this industry since 2010. I was working as a director at another company for about five years. In 2016, I went on a cycling trip to Europe and realized how far behind we were compared to other countries when it comes to sports infrastructure. Pricing was a big challenge. We needed infrastructure that wasn’t expensive like the European products we were importing.

That’s when I decided we needed to start building affordable sports infrastructure, especially for schools. Today, we are one of the largest sports infrastructure development companies for the education sector. We’ve worked with over 300 schools, colleges, and universities—completely transforming their infrastructure. The idea was to give students proper facilities so they can grow into future champions. We wanted the infrastructure to be injury-free, cost-effective, and durable—suitable for international-level training. Around 2020, we also started working on government projects, as large-scale developments are mostly government-funded.

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How is sports infrastructure development shaping the Indian sporting scenario?

Nasir Ali: It’s definitely improving. Earlier, there were just 10–15 companies in this space. Now, there are over a thousand small and big companies involved in sports infra development across India. Companies like ours focus on bigger cities, while smaller firms take our know-how and work in tier 2, 3, and 4 cities. That’s how the ecosystem is expanding.

However, the market is still relatively small—there are maybe only 8 to 10 companies with revenues above ₹20 crores annually. For perspective, a similar company in the US does $500 million in business, while we are yet to touch even $10 million. So yes, we’ve come a long way, but the gap is still massive.

Q: What’s still missing in India’s sports infrastructure at both grassroots and national levels?

Nasir Ali: Several things. First, we started late—countries like China, Japan, and Korea began building sports infrastructure 25 years ago. We began only 5–10 years ago. Second, budgets are very low across the board—schools, CSR, state governments, everyone treats sports as a low priority.

Take hockey, for example. Netherlands has 400 hockey pitches for a population of 17–18 million. India, with 1.4 billion people, might have only 50–70 usable pitches. Without infrastructure, talent can’t grow. Kids playing on mud grounds can’t transition to AstroTurf at age 16. It just doesn’t work that way.

We also lack swimming pools—Tal Katora is the only decent one in all of Delhi! We need accessible facilities in every neighborhood. Sports should be treated as a necessity for health, not a luxury.

Q: How does India compare with a sporting super power for example China when it comes to sports infrastructure?

Nasir Ali: China took sports seriously much earlier. They made sports infra compulsory for schools—no license without it. That’s where the transformation began. Every Chinese school has proper indoor and outdoor facilities and dedicated sports periods. We need similar reforms across CBSE and other educational boards in India.

Their universities are world-class. For the next Olympics in the US, UCLA and USC are managing the games—with existing infrastructure! Stanford alone has produced 39 Olympic medalists. We need to make sports part of our institutional ecosystem.

Q: Indian stadiums are often criticized for being less spectator-friendly. What are your thoughts?

Nasir Ali: True. In the past, stadiums were poorly planned—made by local engineers and architects without experience in spectator-centric design. Things are improving. Narendra Modi Stadium is a good example. For future events like the Olympics, we will definitely involve better architects.

The issue is also budget-related. Once you start spending ₹1 lakh crore+, good infrastructure will follow. But more important than building Olympic venues is to focus on grassroots infrastructure. That’s where talent comes from.

Q: With India eyeing to host the 2036 edition of the Olympic Games, what kind of sports infrastructure that will be needed?

Nasir Ali: We will need to follow all the International Olympic Committee guidelines—minimum spectator capacity, indoor and outdoor facilities, air conditioning if it’s in Gujarat due to the weather, etc. But building these mega-facilities just 2–3 years before the Olympics is not enough.

The journey from now until 2036 is crucial. From 2025 to 2034, we need to build and improve sports facilities at the district and grassroots levels. Not just for recreation, but for serious training for national and international players.

Q: What trends are you seeing in the sports infrastructure market? Which sports are gaining popularity?

Nasir Ali: Football is in high demand, largely because of social media influence. But the talent pool is still developing. Hockey is strong in talent, but it lacks financial motivation. Cricket remains dominant. Athletics is growing, and we now manufacture PU athletic tracks in India too.

Interestingly, sports like pickleball are booming—especially in the 45+ age group. It’s easy to play and needs little space, so many tennis courts are being converted. But it’s not an Olympic sport, and I don’t recommend it for youngsters. They should be playing more demanding sports to develop real skills.

Prakhar Sachdeo
The Sportz Planet Desk