Introduction

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved a revamped Khelo India Scheme along with an enhanced Assistance to National Sports Federations (ANSF) Scheme, with a combined outlay of ₹36,441 crore for the period 2026–27 to 2030–31. Described by the government as the country’s most ambitious sports development programme since Independence, the revamped Khelo India Scheme is nearly eight times the size of the previous scheme and is designed to build a seamless pathway for athletes from school playgrounds to the Olympic podium.

Budget Split: Khelo India and ANSF

Of the total ₹36,441 crore outlay, ₹29,054 crore has been earmarked for the Khelo India Scheme itself, with the remaining ₹7,387 crore allocated to the enhanced ANSF Scheme over the five-year period. The Khelo India Scheme has nine components in total, with the largest single allocation of ₹10,586 crore going to Khelo India Training Facilities. This component will integrate Olympic Training Centres, State Training Centres, Khelo India Centres of Excellence, and grassroots facilities, giving athletes access to sports science, nutrition support, mental health support, sports medicine, and technology-enabled performance monitoring.

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A Comprehensive Athlete Development Pathway

For the first time, the Khelo India Scheme creates an integrated, end-to-end pathway for athletes covering talent identification, scientific training, regular competition, international exposure, and Olympic preparation. This pathway links directly into the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), so that athletes identified early through Khelo India can progress into elite-level preparation without gaps in support.

The scheme establishes a nationwide network comprising National Centres of Excellence (NCOEs), Khelo India Centres of Excellence (KICoEs), SAI Training Centres (STCs), Khelo India Accredited Academies (KIAAs), Khelo India Centres (KICs), and Youth Sports Companies (YSCs) of the Armed Forces. Together, these institutions are intended to provide world-class coaching, sports science support, and modern infrastructure across the country.

New Initiatives Under the Revamped Scheme

Several new components mark a structural shift in how the Khelo India Scheme approaches grassroots development:

• Khelo India Feeder Schools (KIFS) and Khelo India Utkrishta Vidyalayas (KIUV): Two new school-level initiatives that integrate sports with mainstream education, enabling early identification and systematic, long-term nurturing of young sporting talent.
• Emerging Khelo India Athletes (E-KIA): A new athlete category that expands the structured athlete pool from roughly 2,904 to nearly 28,000 athletes — close to a ten-fold increase — significantly widening the base from which future talent can be drawn.
• National Coach Accreditation Board (NCAB): A new body set up to standardise coaching qualifications, improve professional standards, and strengthen the capabilities of coaches and support staff across the country.
• Unified Digital Sports Platform: A single digital system integrating athlete databases, sports infrastructure, competitions, coaching resources, talent assessments, funding, and Fit India participation data, intended to enable transparent, data-driven governance of the sports ecosystem.

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Alignment with National Sports Policy

The revamped Khelo India Scheme has been framed as aligning with the Khelo Bharat Niti-2025, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, and the broader Viksit Bharat@2047 vision. The government has also stated that the scheme is expected to strengthen India’s preparations for the 2030 Commonwealth Games and future Olympic bids, alongside other major international sporting events.

Enhanced Assistance to National Sports Federations

Complementing the Khelo India Scheme, the strengthened ANSF Scheme for 2026–31 will fund coaching, sports science, modern equipment, international exposure, training camps, and the engagement of foreign experts for National Sports Federations. It is also intended to support sports cooperation with countries of the Global South and to promote India’s indigenous sports on the international stage.

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Private Sector and Institutional Collaboration

The government has indicated it will deepen collaboration with private academies, corporate partners, and other institutions under the revamped Khelo India Scheme, with the stated aim of leveraging private investment, innovation, and expertise in sports infrastructure, talent development, and athlete support. This is intended to create a sports ecosystem driven by both public and private participation, rather than relying solely on government funding and institutions.

Addressing Structural Gaps in Indian Sport

The Khelo India Scheme in its revamped form is designed to address several long-standing structural challenges in Indian sport, including uneven infrastructure across states, a shortage of qualified coaches, limited sports science expertise, and difficulties in identifying talent in rural and remote regions. By combining school-level integration through KIFS and KIUV, a standardised coaching framework through the NCAB, and a unified digital platform for governance, the scheme attempts to tackle these gaps within a single coordinated structure rather than through fragmented, standalone initiatives.

Originally launched in 2017–18, Khelo India has grown over the years through events such as the Khelo India Youth Games, University Games, Winter Games, Para Games, Beach Games, and Tribal Games. The revamped Khelo India Scheme approved for 2026–27 to 2030–31 represents a significant expansion in scale and structure, and its implementation over the coming five years will determine whether India’s sports ecosystem can meet the ambitious targets the government has set for talent development, infrastructure, and sports science support across the country.

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