More money for Khelo India, SAI

NEWDELHI:The government on Friday increased the sports budget by ~214.20 crore for the financial year 2019-2020, including a hike in funds for the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and incentives for sportspersons.

In the interim budget presented by Finance Minister Piyush Goyal, the overall sports budget for 2019-2020 was increased from ~2002.72 (2018-2019) cr to ~2216.92cr.

The allocation to SAI has been increased by ~55cr. From ~395cr, the allocation has been increased to ~450cr in the fresh proposals.

Besides, the allocation for National Sports Development Fund has increased from ~2cr to ~70cr. Goyal also proposed a hike in the incentive fund for sportspersons, from ~63 cr to ~89 cr.

However, the assistance to national sports federations has been cut from ~245.13cr to ~245cr.

The overall encouragement and awards to sportspersons have been increased by ~94.07 cr. The previous allocation stood at ~316.93cr and will now be ~411 cr.

Khelo India too got a hike of ~50.31cr. From the previous allocation of ~550.69cr, it is now ~601cr.