India will bid for its maiden surfing medal at the 2026 Asian Games, set to be hosted by Japan. With two confirmed slots and a shot for more, the aquatic event has caught the eyes of many around the country. With expectations high from surfing, WION exclusively caught up with Rammohan Paranjpe, Vice President of the Surfing Federation of India (SFI) as he opened up on India’s current challenges and journey in surfing.

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Ram is also widely known for many surf explorations around the sub-continent and the documentation of surfing culture through his surf photography. His work has been published around the world in various surf media and many successful collaborations with global surf brands. His work was pivotal in putting India on the global surf map.

Question: How has been the journey for the Surfing Federation of India and what role did you play?

Back when surfing was just a hobby and there was no infrastructure, some of our Australian friends prompted us to start the organisation as we were the pioneers. The story goes back to 2011-12 when we were urged to take surfing as a serious sport despite the country having a history of about 20 years. We had a tough start in the starting years as we found it difficult to promote surfing, but the response was positive thereafter and here we are step after step building an empire.

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Talking of my role, I am a founding member of the Surfing Federation of India and currently serving as the vice president. I was an original member of India’s first surf establishment Mantra Surf Club under the aegis of Surfing Swami.

I have been at the forefront of surfing development in India for a decade now where I was instrumental in introducing many different programs, policies, and structures in the country.

Question: How was the support from the government and other bodies?

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We mainly got our support from events and tourism-based models in the earlier days. However, that is changing now and we see a lot of participation from different corners of the society. We have been recognised as a National Governing Body for the Sport of Surfing in India and further steps are underway to come under the schemes of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the sports ministry, but again it is a step-by-step process and we are getting there.

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Question: Majority of India is landlocked and don’t have access to sea water, so do you promote surfing there?

In terms of development, yes we are not getting any athletes from the north of the country, but again we have support developing from there as well. I am hopeful that in the coming years, we will be thrilled to have surfers from that part of the country as well.

Question: How are the standards of the beach decided to host an event like India Paddle Festival?

For paddling it can be hosted at any location like pond, rivers, sea and other water bodies, however, for surfing we need to fulfil certain requirements. We were lucky to be at the Sasihithlu Beach where we have great infrastructure, good wind and waves which have helped us oragnising the India Paddle Festival.

Question: India will be participating in the 2026 Asian Games in surfing, so are there encouraging signs for the nation in aquatic sports?

It is hard to say where we will be in another 10 years time, but the signs are there and progress has been made. We have two confirmed slots for the Asian Games 2026 and will have a shot for another two slots later in the year. So it will be interesting to see how we can thrive. Honestly, right now our realistic aim is to be a respected surfing body in Asia.

In the recent years, we have overcome the certain challenges like getting better of Sri Lanka and other surrounding nations who have better waves than us. So we should be taking one step at a time and long term success will surely follow in the coming years.