India launches F1 return study for Buddh bid

India’s push to bring Formula 1 back has moved into a formal government process, with the sports ministry set to create a four-to-five-member task force to decide within three months whether a return to Buddh International Circuit can be built for 2028 to 2030.

The move gives structure to a project that had largely lived in ambition and talks. According to the ministry, the new group will carry out a detailed assessment of India’s motorsport ecosystem and examine what would be required to host major international events again. That review is expected to cover economic returns, tourism benefits, investment opportunities, and the logistical and organizational conditions needed to stage a Grand Prix.

The decision followed a meeting involving representatives of Formula 1, Buddh International Circuit, the Adani Group, the Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India, and other stakeholders tied to the country’s motorsport plans. That matters because it puts the feasibility study on the back of direct discussions with the parties that would need to be aligned for any comeback bid to advance beyond rhetoric.

Indian Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the ministry would establish a specialized group of four to five members to conduct a detailed review of the domestic motorsport environment, with findings due in three months. The timeline gives India its first clear internal deadline in the latest attempt to restore a race that has been absent from the championship for more than a decade.

Formula 1 last raced in India from 2011 to 2013, when Buddh hosted the Indian Grand Prix before dropping off the calendar. Since then, several comeback discussions have surfaced without producing a confirmed return, leaving the latest government-backed step more significant than previous rounds of optimism.

There is still a gap between ambition and delivery. India had previously been targeting a possible return as early as 2027, but the current objective has shifted to a 2028 to 2030 window. That change underlines the scale of the work still required, even with ministry support now in place.

The more cautious view inside Indian motorsport has also pointed to the end of the decade. FMSCI president Arindam Ghosh said efforts are under way to bring Formula 1 back to India by 2030, suggesting the federation sees that date as the more realistic horizon.

That leaves the new task force at the center of the project. Its conclusions will effectively determine whether India can present Formula 1 with a credible case that a race at Buddh is not only possible, but commercially and operationally viable enough to earn a place back on the calendar.