Sports budget hiked by ₹350 crore

The Sports Ministry budget on Wednesday got a substantial hike of Rs 350 crore in the union budget for 2017-18, presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Parliament here.

Jaitley allocated a total of Rs 1943 crore, compared to Rs 1592 crore earmarked last year.

The steep increase in the budgetary allocation comes at a time when Indian athletes are preparing for the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games in 2018. The hike also comes in the wake of India's dismal showing at the Rio Olympics where it won just two medals — a silver and bronze.

What is striking is that the allocation for sports promotion among disabled has been reduced to just Rs one lakh, a heavy reduction from Rs 4 crore allocated last year.

The Sports Authority of India, entrusted with the task of organising national camps, has been granted a total of Rs 481 crore, compared to Rs 416 crore it received last year.

The assistance to national sports federations has been increased to Rs 302 crore from Rs 185 crore.

In another notable statistics, a mere Rs 50 lakh has been allocated for identifying and nurturing sports talent in the country.