The Badminton Association of India (BAI) has announced that the 2028 edition of the India Open, one of the most prestigious tournaments in world badminton, will be hosted at the National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) in Guwahati, Assam. Scheduled for the last week of January 2028, the tournament will move out of its traditional home, the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in New Delhi, for a single year. Guwahati will become the first city outside New Delhi to host the event in recent times, marking a fresh chapter in the growth of sports infrastructure in the North East.
What Is the India Open?
The India Open is an annual international badminton championship organised by the Badminton Association of India (BAI) with the sanction of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the world governing body of the sport. The tournament has been played every year since 2008. It began in Hyderabad, moved to Chennai in 2010, and shifted to New Delhi in 2011, where it has been staged ever since. From 2011 to 2019 it was held at the Siri Fort Sports Complex, while recent editions have been hosted at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall.
The tournament has climbed steadily up the international circuit. Its first three editions were Grand Prix Gold events. In 2011 it was upgraded to the BWF Superseries, the top tier of the sport at that time. When the BWF introduced its new World Tour structure in 2018, the India Open was classified as a Super 500 event, and it was promoted to the Super 750 category in 2023.
A Super 750 event is the second-highest level in the BWF World Tour, sitting below the Super 1000 tournaments and above the Super 500 category. The winner of such an event earns 11,000 world ranking points, and the minimum prize pool stood at US$950,000 in 2026, rising to US$1.1 million from 2027. Participation is effectively mandatory for the best players: the top 15 singles players and the top 10 doubles pairs must enter all Super 750 events, which is why these tournaments always feature the strongest field in the world.
| BWF World Tour Level | Category | Prize Money (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | World Tour Finals | US$3,000,000 |
| Level 2 | Super 1000 | US$1,450,000 |
| Level 3 | Super 750 | US$950,000 |
| Level 4 | Super 500 | US$475,000 |
| Level 5 | Super 300 | US$240,000 |
| Level 6 | Super 100 | US$110,000 |
The event’s traditional home in recent years, the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall, is an indoor arena within the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium complex in New Delhi. It is named after Khashaba Dadasaheb Jadhav, the first Indian to win an individual Olympic medal after Independence, a wrestling bronze at the 1952 Helsinki Games. The hall, which can seat about 6,000 spectators, was built for the wrestling competitions of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The 2026 edition of the India Open, however, was held at the larger Indira Gandhi Arena in the same complex.
Why the 2028 Edition Is Moving Out of Delhi
The 2028 India Open is scheduled for the 25 to 30 January window. This period directly clashes with the Republic Day celebrations of 26 January. In the weeks leading up to and around 26 January, the national capital is placed under strict security arrangements for the Republic Day parade and related events. Movement of people and vehicles is severely restricted, especially in central Delhi where the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium complex is located.
This creates a practical problem for a major six-day international tournament. Players would struggle to travel between hotels and practice venues, shuttle services would be disrupted, and the smooth conduct of the event would be difficult. BAI general secretary Sanjay Mishra has described the relocation as a one-off decision. The tournament is expected to return to New Delhi in 2029.
The decision also highlights a structural constraint of the global badminton calendar. The BWF fixes the schedule of all its tournaments worldwide, and changing the dates of a single event would require the entire calendar to be redrawn. The India Open could therefore not simply be moved to another week in Delhi.
The 2027 edition, interestingly, will be held from 2 to 7 February in New Delhi, a departure from the traditional January window. This adjustment was made partly in response to player complaints about air quality and winter conditions in the capital. The 2026 edition, held at the Indira Gandhi Arena in January, saw players raise concerns about pollution and bird droppings on the court, with some leading international shuttlers having skipped recent editions citing these conditions. The 2027 date shift was intended to address some of those concerns, but the 2028 window reverted to late January as per the BWF schedule.
The National Centre of Excellence, Guwahati
The National Centre of Excellence (NCOE) is BAI’s flagship training and competition facility, located at Amingaon on the northern bank of the Brahmaputra river in Guwahati, Assam. It was inaugurated on 11 August 2023 as a joint project of BAI and the Government of Assam, under a memorandum of understanding signed between the two. The MoU was drawn up for 25 years, subject to renewal.
The facility is the largest badminton centre in the country. It houses 16 badminton courts, a 4,000 sq ft gymnasium with modern fitness equipment, a 60-bed hostel for players, and a dedicated physiotherapy centre. The main arena can seat around 4,000 spectators. The complex was designed keeping in mind Assam’s heavy rainfall and humidity, with a specially engineered roof to keep the indoor climate stable for competition and training.
Beyond hosting tournaments, the NCOE serves as a national training hub for young talent. Promising shuttlers from across the country are selected through national trials and train at the centre under senior coaches. The venue has already built a strong international reputation, having hosted the 2025 BWF World Junior Championships in October 2025, the second time India staged the event after Pune in 2008.
Guwahati’s Rising Stature in Indian Badminton
Guwahati, the largest city in the North East and the gateway to the region, has been steadily building a reputation as a badminton destination. International badminton first came to the city in 2007, when it hosted the India International Challenge. In December 2023 the city staged the inaugural Guwahati Masters, a BWF Tour Super 100 event, at the Sarusajai Sports Complex. The return of the BWF World Junior Championships to India after 17 years, at the NCOE in 2025, further confirmed the city’s credentials to host elite events.
Several factors explain Guwahati’s rise in the sport. The Assam government has actively invested in sports infrastructure, and the state’s chief minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, also serves as the president of BAI, giving the region a strong voice in the sport’s governance. With the 2028 India Open, Guwahati becomes the first city outside New Delhi to host the country’s premier badminton tournament in recent years.
This development is part of a wider push to strengthen the sports ecosystem in the North East, a region that was historically under-represented in the hosting of major national and international events. Beyond badminton, Guwahati hosts the home matches of the Indian Super League football club NorthEast United FC and has regularly staged national-level tournaments across multiple sports. The NCOE itself provides a world-class training base for young athletes from across the eight states of the region.
Significance of the Move
The relocation is a temporary arrangement rather than a judgment against Delhi as a host. Officials have stressed that the tournament will return to the national capital in 2029. Even so, the decision carries considerable weight for India’s sporting landscape.
It gives the NCOE a chance to host one of the sport’s biggest annual events, a strong vote of confidence in the infrastructure of the North East. A Super 750 tournament brings the world’s top players, extensive television coverage and a large fan following, all of which will place Guwahati in the global sporting spotlight. The event is expected to boost sports tourism in the region and inspire a new generation of young players in Assam and neighbouring states.
For Indian badminton, the move also reflects a maturing ecosystem. India’s international badminton calendar has expanded rapidly, with the country hosting the BWF World Championships in New Delhi in August 2026 and bidding to host the Thomas and Uber Cup finals in 2028. The ability to stage a Super 750 event in a second city is a sign of growing depth in Indian sports infrastructure.
Looking ahead, a successful 2028 edition in Guwahati could encourage the federation to consider rotating marquee events across cities. It also strengthens India’s case when it seeks to host more world-level badminton tournaments, given the steady growth in venues that meet international standards. For now, all eyes are on January 2028, when the Brahmaputra’s banks will host some of the finest shuttlers on the planet.
Key Takeaways
- The Badminton Association of India (BAI), formed in 1934 and headquartered in New Delhi, will host the 2028 India Open at the National Centre of Excellence in Guwahati, Assam.
- The 2028 India Open, a BWF World Tour Super 750 event, is scheduled for the last week of January 2028 and will return to New Delhi in 2029.
- The tournament is moving for one edition because its dates clash with Republic Day security arrangements in the national capital.
- The National Centre of Excellence, inaugurated on 11 August 2023, is India’s largest badminton facility, with 16 courts and seating for about 4,000 spectators.
- The India Open was promoted to Super 750 status in 2023, and winners of the category earn 11,000 world ranking points.
- The NCOE previously hosted the 2025 BWF World Junior Championships, India’s first staging of the event since Pune in 2008.
