As she tabled the Finance Bill 2022 in Parliament on Tuesday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave a huge boost to the sporting sector, boosting the budget allocation by almost Rs 300 crore to Rs 3062.60 crore for the fiscal year 2022-23. It will be a significant boost for athletes with the Asian and Commonwealth Games.
Budget for Sports Sector
The country’s amazing performance at the Tokyo Olympics appears to have influenced the sports budget, as the national government granted Rs 3062.60 crore for the financial year 2022-23, up from Rs 305.58 crore the previous year.
The government set out Rs 2596.14 crore for sports in the previous fiscal year, which was later amended to Rs 2757.02 crore. At the Tokyo Olympics, India won seven medals, including an unprecedented track and field gold. Sporting activities in the country have also restarted in a staged manner, with the Birmingham Commonwealth Games and the Hangzhou Asian Games scheduled for 2022.
Future of Sporting Activities
Given all of this, the government may have opted to increase spending on sports. In the 2021-22 budget, unveiled by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday, the government’s flagship Khelo India program received an increase of Rs 316.29 crore.
The budgetary allocation for the Khelo India initiative was enhanced to Rs 974 crore from Rs 657.71 crore in the previous budget. The overall amount of encouragement and awards are given to athletes has increased significantly, from Rs 245 crore to Rs 357 crore.
The Sports Authority of India’s budget was cut by Rs 7.41 crore, bringing it down to Rs 653 crore. The SAI is the central organization in charge of managing national camps, as well as providing facilities, equipment, and other logistical support to the country’s athletes.
The National Sports Development Fund’s budget has been cut by Rs 9 crore, bringing the total to Rs 16 crore. The core of the National Service Scheme has increased by Rs 118.50 crore from Rs 165 crore to Rs 283.50 crore.
At Rs 280 crore, the budget for National Sports Federations (NSFs) remained unchanged. In terms of incentives for athletes, the budget proposes a minor increase of Rs crore to Rs 55 crore. The National Sports Development Fund funding has been slashed from Rs 25 crore to Rs 16 crore.
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