The flagship sports programme of the Indian government, Khelo India has been allocated a budget of ₹1000 crore in the Union Budget for 2025-26. India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the budget with the sports budget getting raised by ₹351.98 crore than the previous year. Khelo India was launched by the government in 2017-18 to scout and nurture athletes at the grassroot level and once again turned out to be the biggest beneficiary in the sports budget.
Notably, Khelo India has been allotted a massive budget of ₹1000 crore for the financial year 2025-26, which ₹200 crore more than the previous budget of ₹800 crore for 2024-25. Notably, the Ministry for Youth Affairs and Sports was allocated an overall budget of ₹3,794.30 which is ₹351.98 crore more than the previous year’s budget.
How will the government spend on sports industry?
With no major sporting events like Olympics, Commonwealth games or Asian games scheduled to take place in the upcoming year, the current budget for sports is being looked at as a massive one. The National Sports Federations has been assigned an assistance amount for ₹400 crore which is ₹60 crore more than the previous year. It turned out to be a huge budget as India is looking forward to winning the bid for hosting the Olympic games in 2036 and have already submitted the letter of intent for the same to the International Olympic Committee.
The Indian government has invested heavily in the Khelo India programme in the last few years which has helped the country massively. Many of the athletes from Khelo India also participated in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Several talented athletes across the country have been backed over years by Khelo India State Centres of Excellence (KISCE).
