New Delhi: The Central government on Saturday announced an allocation of Rs 2826.92 crore to the sports budget for the next financial year. The flagship Khelo India programme was given a substantial hike of Rs 291.42 crore, continuing the trend of the Centre prioritising the grassroot and youth level developmental programme.
In the 2019/20 budget, the allocation for sports was Rs 2216.92 crore before it was revised to Rs 2776.92 crore. Rs 50 crore is the overall increase in allocation for sports.
Incentives for sportspersons were also reduced to Rs 70 crore to what was Rs 111 crore in the previous financial year while the budget for the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) also got reduced to Rs 50 crore from Rs 77.15 crore.
The highest reduction was for National Sports Federations (NSFs), for whom Rs 245 crores have been allocated which is Rs 55 crore less than what was the number in 2019/20.
The allocation for the Sports Authority of India (SAI), which manages national camps and provides logistical support to the country’s sportspersons, has been reduced to Rs 500 crore from Rs 615 crore.
