The chief minister of New Delhi vowed yesterday that the city would be ready to host the Commonwealth Games in October, despite growing concerns about severely delayed preparations.

Venues including the main stadium and the swimming pool complex are far behind schedule, and much of the Indian capital is in chaos as workers rush to complete transport projects such as new metro lines and elevated roads.

"A lot of planning has gone into it and it will be a successful Games, I assure you that," Sheila Dikshit told a business conference 102 days before the opening ceremony.

"I feel both comforted and a little nervous. Like true Indians we left things till the time they had to really be done," she said.

The 12-day sporting festival involving 71 nations mostly from the former British empire is already the most expensive Commonwealth Games in history, with an infrastructure and organising budget of two billion dollars.

To mark the 100-day countdown, the Queen's baton relay will arrive in India from Pakistan tomorrow to start its tour of the host country.