Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has allocated the lion’s share of the Union budget, presented on Tuesday, for the sports ministry to the Khelo India project.
The Narendra Modi government’s flagship project to promote sports at the grassroots level has been allocated ₹900 crore from the overall allocation of ₹3,442.32 crore.
Khelo India’s share is ₹20 crore more than the revised allocation of ₹880 crore during the previous financial year.
The overall budget for the sports ministry, however, saw only a marginal increase of ₹45.36 crore from the previous cycle as the Olympics cycle will end in Paris in August this year while the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games are still two years away.
The budget for the previous cycle was ₹3,396.96 crore for the previous financial year.
The government has invested heavily in Khelo India over the years as the programme continues to unearth talent from all parts of the country.
While Khelo India’s actual allocation in 2022-23 stood at ₹596.39 crore, it was increased by more than ₹400 crore to ₹1,000 crore in the 2023-24 budget, before being revised to ₹880 crore.
The government has continued to add programmes ever since the inaugural Khelo India Youth Games were held in 2018.
The ministry added Khelo India University Games in 2020 before also launching the Khelo India Winter Games the same year and the Khelo India Para Games in 2023.
The government’s assistance to National Sports Federations has also seen an increase of ₹15 crore —from ₹325 crore in 2023-24 to ₹340 crore in the latest budget.
The budget for Sports Authority of India, which apart from maintaining its stadia across the country also manages the Target Olympic Podium Scheme to prepare athletes for the global sporting extravaganzas, has also been enhanced from ₹795.77 crore
to ₹822.60 crore, a jump of ₹₹26.83 crore.
The National Anti-Doping Agency and the National Dope Testing Laboratory have received marginal increase in their budgets.
