National Games
National Games: 'Sports budget has increased by 70% in last eight years,'- PM Modi
The Prime Minister's speech at the Games' opening ceremony shed light on an interesting fact about the development of sports in the country.
PM Narendra Modi at the National Games 2022 opening ceremony.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the 36th National Games in Ahmedabad, Gujarat at the Narendra Modi stadium on Thursday evening. While a crowd of more than a lakh came to witness the opening ceremony, Modi dropped a fact amidst his praise-worthy words for the event.
"The sports budget in India has increased by nearly 70% in the last 8 years," he said in his opening address. While this number might seem too good to be true, there is veruty to the statement. This shows that sports in India has been going in the right direction, at least financially.
In the 2014-15 Annual Budget, which was BJP's first after coming to power, a total of 1769 crore was allocated to the development of sports. Eight years hence, the 2022-23 Budget saw India's highest-ever sports budget, a number which stands at 3062 crore.
If one calculates, the increase in the sports funds has been 73% to be precise. However, the increase in the total budget amount is not proportional to that of sports'. The total budget increased by a whopping 120% as compared to sports' 73%.
0.0009 (0.09%) 0.08% Moreover, the percentage of the total Budget amount which was allocated for sports has stayed the same, if not a little less. (0.09% in the 2014-15 Budget and 0.08% in the 2022-23 Annual Budget).
