That would mean winning as many medals in one Games as India would have done in the previous 56 years stretching back to Melbourne in 1956.

But the 25-year-old shooter who won the 10 metre air rifle event warned that India needs to stop being so obsessed with cricket if it is to make more of an impression in the Olympics.

India has been competing in the Games since Paris in 1920 when Norman Pritchard, who was of British descent, won silver medals in the 200m and 200m hurdles.

But until Bindra's victory, the only gold medals India had celebrated was in hockey, which they have won a record eight times, including in six consecutive Olympics between 1928 and 1956.

Only four individual competitors have won medals since Pritchard, however, a poor return for a country with a population of 1.1 billion, the second largest in the world after China.

Bindra said: "I am very confident that if we go for a long-term Olympic preparatory programme we can easily get at least 10 medals.

"India should learn from China, which is obsessed with going for gold."

Some experts believe that cricket is so big in India that it suffocates the chances of any other sport making an impression.

Bindra said: "India can only be called a sporting power in the world when we win 30-40 Olympic medals and not by winning the cricket world series.

"I love cricket.

"It can’t be denied that it is the most popular game in the country.

"I am myself a big fan of Sachin Tendulkar.

"However athletes don’t get the support they deserve.

"I also believe that supporting athletes going for Olympics need to be a priority of the Government.

"I still think we should kickstart a serious national Olympic programme where the Government should promote and coach youngsters in various disciplines."

Bindra, whose victory was also India's first Olympic gold medal since the hockey team's in Moscow 28 years ago, is one of nine Indian athletes sponsored by the Mittal Champions Trust, which is bankrolled by London-based steel magnate Lakshmi Niwas Mittal who is investing $10 million to help boost India's chances of doing well in the 2012 Games.

The Trust was set up after the Athens Olympics by Mittal's son-in-law Amit Bhatia, now the vice-chairman of Championship club Queen's Park Rangers, who was frustrated at the lack of Indian success.

He said: "From that moment the idea of the Trust came about and we are glad that we have been able to help a talented hard-working athlete like Abhinav to embrace his dreams.

Mittal said: "I am absolutely delighted that Abhinav has won India's first individual gold at the Olympics.

"This is a great day for Indian sport and I hope it will act as motivation for the Indian team participating at this event.

"The Mittal Champions Trust was set up to improve India's performance at major sporting events and to have such a result at the first Olympics since the trust's inception is a magnificent result."