Sports Ministry sanctions Rs 67.32 cr to 6 Khelo India State CoE

The Sports Ministry has approved six centres as the Khelo India Centre of Excellence and they will now be upgraded at a consolidated budget estimate of Rs 67.32 crore for FY 2020-21

The Sports Ministry has approved six centres as the Khelo India Centre of Excellence (KISCE) and they will now be upgraded at a consolidated budget estimate of Rs 67.32 crore for FY 2020-21 and subsequent four years in an effort to identify and groom Olympic level talent.

The States of Assam, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya and Sikkim and Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, have been identified in the second leg.

The centers identified in each state and the financial support extended includes:

Assam: States Sports Academy, Sarusajai- Rs 7.96 crore

Meghalaya: J N S Complex, Shillong, Meghalaya- Rs 8.39 crore

Daman & Diu: New Sports Complex Silvassa- Rs 8.05 crore

Madhya Pradesh: MP State Academy- Rs 19 crore

Maharashtra: Shree Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex, Balewadi, Pune- Rs 16 crore

Sikkim: Paljor Stadium, Gangtok - Rs 7.91 crore

Speaking about the initiative Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju in an official statement said, "Creating centres of sporting excellence across the country is a step towards our vision of making India one of the top 10 countries in Olympics 2028. Unless we can provide world-class specialised training, we cannot expect athletes to excel at the Olympics.

"Each of these centers will provide world-class training in a specific sporting discipline and will become the main facility in the country where elite athletes of that sport will train. I am happy that each state has supported this initiative of the center with great positivity and enthusiasm," he added.

The support to the centers will be in the form of infrastructure up-gradation, setting up of sports science centres and also a soft component in the form of quality coaches and sports science human resources like physiotherapists, strength & conditioning experts and so on.

High-quality equipment will also be provided to the players. The academy will also have a High-performance Manager to ensure the quality of sports science input and performance management.

The Sports Ministry is upgrading existing sporting infrastructure in each State and Union Territory, in partnership with the state and UT, and creating KISCEs with the aim of creating a robust sporting ecosystem in the entire country.

Each KISCE will be extended with sports-specific support in 14 Olympic sports, out of which one state or UT will be given support for a maximum of three sports.