Sports budget hiked by Rs. 351 crore
Written by : IANS | Thu, Feb 02, 2017, 09:57 AM
New Delhi, Feb 2: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday allocated Rs. 1943.21 crore to the ministry of youth affairs and sports for 2017-18 fiscal, an increase of Rs 351 crore from the last financial year.
For the 2016-17 year, the sports ministry was earmarked Rs.1592 crore.
The Khelo India scheme is a major beneficiary, getting Rs. 350 crore as against last fiscal year's Rs. 140 crore. Assistance to Promotion of Sports Excellence also got Rs 312.8 crore, a hike of Rs. 122 crore.
The Sports Authority of India (SAI), the nodal agency for sports in the country, has got a major share of the budget, with Rs 481 crore being allocated, compared to last year's Rs 416 crore.
Meanwhile, there has been no change in the Rs. 75 crore allocation for sports in Jammu and Kashmir.
The National Service Scheme has got Rs. 144 crore in place of Rs. 137.50 crore in 2016-2017 fiscal.
The assistance to national sports federations has been increased to Rs. 302.18 crore from Rs. 185 crore.
India will take part in the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games in 2018 and that has played a part in the sports budget hike.