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How much money did Indian government spend during Olympic cycle from 2016 to 2021?

The Indian Government spent close to INR. 88.50 crore from 2016 to August 2021 under TOPS, the SAI revealed in a RTI filed by The Bridge.

How much money did Indian government spend during Olympic cycle from 2016 to 2021?
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By

Abhijit Nair

Updated: 26 Oct 2021 4:24 AM GMT

The 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics were undoubtedly India's best ever in history. While the country returned with 7 medals, including an athletics gold from the Olympics, the Paralympians clinched a total of 19 medals, including 5 gold.

Right from Mirabai Chanu's silver on 24th July 2021 to Krishna Nagar's gold on the 5th September 2021 – the period of one and a half months will be written engraved in annals of the Indian sports forever.

While quite a certain section of people was quick enough to credit the efforts put in by the government to improve the standard of Indian sports, a certain section maintained that 'the athletes succeeded despite the system not because of it.'

Though the criticism cannot be entirely rubbished, does it really mean that the government had not put necessary efforts in the five years preceding the Tokyo Olympics?

Well, not really.

In fact, the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) which was introduced in the year 2014 – just two years before the Rio Games, seems to have borne fruits.

The Indian Government spent close to INR. 88.50 crore from 2016 to August 2021 under TOPS, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) revealed in a Right to Information (RTI) filed by The Bridge.

The exact amount, including the Out of Pocket Allowance (OPA), under TOPS, stood at INR. 88,49,91,226/-, with the highest INR. 15.65 crore spent during the pandemic affected 2020.

The TOPS money aside, all the National Sports Federations (NSFs) were allotted over INR. 1,350 crores from 2016 to June 2021 under the Assistance to NSF Scheme.



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