Khelo India gets INR 900 crore out of INR 3,442.32 crore Sports Ministry’s allocation in Union Budget 2024

The Indian government’s flagship sports project, Khelo India, that is aimed at promoting sports at the grassroots level, received a major boost in the Union Budget on Tuesday.

The Sports Ministry was given a budget of INR 3,442.32 crore, out of which INR 900 crore will go towards Khelo India. The allocation is INR 20 crore more than the previous year.

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) has been allocated INR 822.60 crore, an increase of INR 26.83 crore from the previous financial year. The SAI maintains all the stadiums across the country and a major chunk of the finances go towards the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), which prepares, aids and funds Olympic-bound athletes in their quest to win a medal for the country.

The SAI was allocated INR 795.77 crore in the previous year.

In the budget, the National Sports Federations will receive INR 340 crore, an increase of INR 15 crore from the previous financial year.

The National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) has been given a budget of INR 22.30 crore and the National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) will have INR 22 crore as its budget for the current financial year.

Overall, the entire Sports Ministry’s budget has seen an increase of INR 45.36 crore from the previous year.

The budget allocation and the marginal increase in funding are due to the new Olympic cycle that commences at the end of the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Sports Ministry can see an increase in the coming years, especially with the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games almost two years away.

However, the biggest beneficiary is Khelo India. It is the union government’s flagship sports programme and the government has invested heavily in Khelo India in the past. The programme has also been successful, as many talents have been unearthed from the hinterlands of the country.

Khelo India has branched out into Khelo India Youth Games, Khelo India University Games, Khelo India Winter Games and more recently, Khelo India Para Games. All the programmes have seen a massive response from various parts of the country.

With the advent of new Khelo India programmes, the budget has also seen a substantial increase. It started with INR 596.39 crore in 2022-23 budget and increased to INR 900 crore in the new budget.

Khelo India has also set up many Khelo India State Centres of Excellence (KISCE) across the country, benefitting many athletes.