Sports Ministry to spend Rs 190 crore on training of athletes for CWG and Asiad

The Sports Ministry on Monday said it will spend Rs 190 crore on athletes for their training, foreign exposure, equipment and support staff for the upcoming Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games.

The ministry also renewed the recognition of 38 National Sports Federations (NSFs) for the year 2022. Renewal of recognition of the remaining NSFs is under consideration.

The ministry has finalised the Annual Calendar of Training & Competitions (ACTCs) for 33 Sports disciplines and earmarked a sum of Rs 259 crore for the financial year 2022-23 as assistance to various NSFs. Of this, as much as Rs. 190 crore will be spent on preparations for Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.

The ministry also said that under the revised norms, quantum of assistance for national championships has increased to Rs 51 lakh for high priority, priority and Indian traditional sports. For general category sports, which were earlier known as 'others', the assistance is now Rs 30 lakh, as against Rs 22 lakh (uniform earlier for all categories of sports disciplines).

Allowance for general sports training kit (like track suits, T-Shirts, shorts, warm up shoes etc.) has been doubled to Rs. 20,000 per athlete once a year for the national campers. For encouraging the NSFs to host international tournaments in the country, the quantum of assistance has been enhanced to Rs 1.00 crore from the earlier Rs.30 lakh.