NEW DELHI, Nov 14: New Delhi has been chosen to host the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the event’s governing body said, becoming only the second Asian host in the Games’ 80-year history.

Indian sports officials hailed the move as a victory for the Indian capital and for the Commonwealth movement.

“We are very, very happy,” Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi told Reuters from the Commonwealth Games Federation’s (CGF) congress in Jamaica after Thursday’s vote.

The federation opted for New Delhi by an overwhelming 46-22 margin over its only rival, the Canadian city of Hamilton.

With a projected Games budget of $420 million, it will also be a major boost for the sprawling Indian capital of almost 14 million people.

New Delhi hosted the inaugural Asian Games in 1951 and again in 1982 but lost its bid for 2006 to Doha, the capital of the tiny Persian Gulf state of of Qatar, gaining just one vote in addition to its own.

Former cricket captain Sunil Gavaskar — the first Test batsman to score 10,000 runs — was roped in for the CGF meeting in the Caribbean, where the batting legend is hugely popular after his sensational 1971 Test debut in the West Indies.—Reuters