India has topped the world doping table for three years running. The common defence is that we simply test more now. The numbers do not support it.
In July, India sent eleven weightlifters to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. It should have been sixteen. Five places were taken away before the team even left, because five Indian lifters had failed dope tests during the qualifying period.
The Usual Defence Is That India Tests More Now
That defence is partly true. India’s National Anti-Doping Agency collected 7,113 samples in 2024. In 2023 it collected 5,606. In 2019 it was about half of today’s figure.
But testing more people only explains a bigger count of positives. It does not explain a bigger share of them.
China Tests Three Times as Many People and Finds Far Fewer
Of India’s 7,113 samples in 2024, 260 came back positive. That is close to 4 in every 100.
China tested more than 24,000 samples the same year. It found 43 positives. That is about 2 in every 1,000.
France came second on the world list with 91 positives. India had almost three times that number.
Three Sports Account for Most of India’s Cases
Athletics gave 76 of the positives, from 1,852 samples. Weightlifting gave 43. In weightlifting alone, more than 6 out of every 100 Indian samples came back positive. Wrestling gave 29.
In 195 of the cases the substance was an anabolic steroid. Steroids are cheap and easy to buy in India. In April 2026 WADA president Witold Banka said they are widely available here, and called India one of the world’s biggest producers.
A Positive Test Is Not the Same as a Ban
Not every positive result ends in a punishment. A positive test is a laboratory finding. It becomes an official violation only after the athlete explains it, any medical exemption is checked, and a hearing is held.
WADA counts confirmed violations in a separate report. For 2023, that report listed 222 confirmed cases against Indian athletes. That was the highest of any country. Russia was second with 209.
Why This Matters Right Now
India will host the Commonwealth Games in 2030. It has said it wants the 2036 Olympics. Both decisions look closely at how a country handles doping. Glasgow has already shown the cost on the field. Five lifters stayed home.
The Wise Take
India did the right thing by testing more. The problem is that the share of failed tests has not fallen as testing has risen. That points to supply, not only to weak policing. The pressure is heaviest in district hostels and junior meets, where nobody is watching closely and many athletes are still teenagers. The 2030 and 2036 bids now put a clock on this. The number India should be judged on is not its rank on a table. It is the percentage.
