SPORTS INFRASTRUCTURE IN INDIA
Sports Infrastructure plays a crucial role in not only producing sports persons for international repute, but also in encouraging the citizens to participate and to create a culture of sports in the country. Under continuous efforts to boost the sports infrastructure in the country, major initiatives taken by the Indian Government include scheme of grants: for creation of sports infrastructure including rural schools, for installing synthetic playing surfaces; for promotion of games and sports in universities and for the creation of Urban Sports Infrastructure.
The Sports Ministry introduced an incentivisation structure in 2020 to extend monetary support to 500 private academies, through the Khelo India Scheme. The Khelo India Scheme is a flagship initiative of the Government, which aims at creation and upgradation of sports infrastructure, including creation of hubs for sports excellence. 77 sports infrastructure projects along with 1000 Khelo India Centres across the country have been notified under the Scheme. The allocation for the Scheme increased by 48% in the budget 2022-2023. It has an outlay of INR 3165.50 crore from 2021-2022 to 2025-26. Overall, the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports has sanctioned 282 sports infrastructure projects of several types amounting to INR 2,328.39 crores across the country, during the last 5 years, catering to various categories of sports disciplines and sportspersons.
Another key initiative of the Government is the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan, launched in 2014, which aims at provision of universal access to sports facilities for the youth. The scheme has been allocated an amount of INR 9000 crore for conduction of sports competitions and to increase sports facilities in rural areas. As of July 2022, around INR 17 billion are spent on sports by the Indian Government.
The Government, to allow adequate risk sharing amongst stakeholder and involve parties who have expertise, encourages Public Private Partnership for building sports infrastructure in the country. New and old forms of ROMT (Refurbish, Operate, Maintain and Transfer) and BOT (Built Operate Transfer) are included in the PPPs (Public-Private Partnership). A capital expenditure of INR 9,069 crore has been earmarked for sports infrastructure NIP (National Infrastructure Pipeline) in India under NIP (National Infrastructure Pipeline).
Ahmedabad in Gujarat is emerging as India’s Sports’ City with world class sports infrastructure. It is home to the largest cricket stadium, the Motera Stadium. It is spread over 63 acres of land and has a seating capacity for almost 1,32,000 spectators. The stadium is known to have 11 pitches and 4 dressing rooms for the players. India also has world’s first solar-powered cricket ground – the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, Karnataka. The Karnataka State Cricket Association has commissioned a 400KW solar plant to supply power to the stadium. The initiative is also expected to generate 6 lakh units of solar power annually, a portion of which will be sold to BESCOM.
In the recent years, there has been a tremendous growth in franchise-based leagues in the country. The Indian Premier League, Pro Kabaddi League , Indian Super League and alike have transformed the sports ecosystem of the country. These franchise competitions have given a further push to the sports infrastructure in the country and will help the country achieve its vision of 50 Olympic gold medals.
In Gujrat, the nation is also holding the 36th National games. It is the largest National Games ever, with about 15,000 athletes, coaches, and officials competing in 36 sports disciplines from around the nation. Gujrat set out to build a robust sports facility that would meet international standards, which enabled the state to quickly become ready for the games. India is eager to host the Olympic games at some point in the future following the successful staging of the national games.
