The History of Badminton in India suggests that the modern version of the game was perhaps invented first in Pune, in the state of Maharashtra. British Army officers stationed in Pune, India, introduced the net, and devised the rules of play, the officers introduced the new sport in Britain during the early 1870s, where it came to be named Badminton, after the Badminton House in Gloucestershire.

Once British Army officers mastered the game of Badminton in India, they introduced it in Britain. The game was definitively launched in the year 1873, when the Duke of Beaufort hosted it at a lawn party in his residence, Badminton House, whence the game derived its modern name. The game, earlier known as `Poona` after the city in which it was first played regularly, became a pastime of the British elite. In the year 1877, the first club dedicated to badminton called the `Bath Badminton Club` was founded. This club is credited with forming and developing the primary official set of rules of the game.

In India, the sport of badminton began as a recreational activity in certain elite clubs. It acquired some organization in India around the 1920s, and in a decade`s time tournaments were held at both the national and regional level.

The game is now ubiquitous in India, and the country has produced several world renowned players like Prakash Padukone and Chetan Anand, to name a few.