Sports Authority Of India’s Khelo India Programme: Analysis of Infrastructure and Facilities
For years medicine, engineering, investment banking etc were considered great career options but with modern thinking this thought process has seen a sea of change. In the last decade with other fields gaining professional significance a lot of youngsters have chosen the offbeat track and had flourishing careers. Sports is one such sector that has experienced an exponential rise in talent at national and international level.
Like any other profession, sportspersons too need to work hard and train regularly to achieve excellence in their sport. For this they need good coaches and professional training facilities such as stadiums, gymnasiums, boxing arenas, swimming pools, roller and ice rinks, billiard halls, etc. For such an area to be available to prospective athletes, the Government of India established various programmes, one of them being Khelo India. This programme helps elevate the sports infrastructure available in India. It also creates an environment for sports enthusiasts to come together and improve their skills.
In our constant endeavour to bring out new career avenues and provide useful insight into a spectrum of options available Careers360 this time takes a stock of the sports industry in India. We gathered the latest data of the Khelo India programme and analysed sport infrastructure and sport facilities, including olympic level facilities, indoor and outdoor facilities, and more.
Our analysis showed that out of all the sport infrastructure set up by Khelo India, just over 10 per cent were currently matching up to Olympic level standards.
Launched by the Sports Authority Of India, Khelo India plays an important role in reviving India's sports culture, creating a solid foundation for all national sports, and elevating Indian athletes to an international level. Under the Khelo India programmes different types of sports are included such as archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, boxing, football, gymnastics, hockey, judo, kabaddi, kho-kho, shooting, swimming, volleyball, weightlifting, and wrestling etc.
Generally, the infrastructure within the state boundaries is looked after by the state government and private institutions, while the Central government’s contribution to managing these is very less.
Sports Infrastructure
There are a total of 766 districts across India, out of those, 96 per cent districts have some sports facilities thanks to Khelo India initiatives. However, Olympic level facilities are available in less than half of these districts.
Olympic level sports facilities in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Meghalaya. Union Territory of Dadra And Nagar Haveli And Daman And Diu are excluded from the data below.
Sports Infrastructure in India (Including Olympic Level)
| Facilities | Sport Infrastructures | Sport Facilities | Total District Covered | Total States Covered |
Olympic Level Facilities | 1,786 | 2,692 | 350 | 32 |
All Facilities | 17,083 | 22,425 | 736 | 36 |
Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Delhi have the most number of such setups. Among other states, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have the most number of sports infrastructure over all.
States With Most Sports Infrastructure (In %)
Jharkhand | 15 |
Maharashtra | 11 |
Tamil Nadu | 9.24 |
States With Highest Number Of Olympic Standard Sports Infrastructure (In %)
Tamil Nadu | 22.9 |
Odisha | 11.14 |
Delhi | 9.1 |
Most students in India don’t participate in sports as often schools don't offer any sports infrastructure or any open space for sports. So first let's learn what is infrastructure versus facility. Sports infrastructure is an area with one or more sports arenas (facilities) and other basic facilities like multipurpose rooms, changing rooms, toilets, etc. While sports facilities means enclosed areas to practise any particular sports which might be a stadium, swimming pools, courts, and other similar places.
Indoor VS Outdoor: Sports Facility
Out of 17,267 outdoor sports facilities in India, just 1,750 facilities maintain Olympic standards. Among the 5,158 indoor sports facilities, 942 are of Olympic standards. Which means, they have particular dimensions and scope as per the Olympic standards. Many new facilities in India are now being constructed on these guidelines. Even the old ones are being reconstructed or repaired to be available for sports persons with olympic level sports standards.
Indoor/Outdoor Facilities
Ownership: Sports Infrastructure
The ownership of all the sport infrastructure is managed by various authorities, state authority is responsible for most facilities and the central government is incharge of a very few sports infrastructure.
Sports Infrastructure Ownership Type
Ownership Types | All Facilities | Olympic Level Facilities |
Centre | 2.6 | 6.9 |
States | 57.8 | 62.5 |
Urban/Rural Local Body | 3.9 | 2 |
Private Institution | 23.1 | 16.2 |
College | 5.5 | 6.1 |
University | 0.9 | 2.3 |
Others | 6.2 | 4 |
Participation In Khelo India
As a country, we are truly excited about sports. This can be said to be true especially after seeing a huge participation in Khelo India Winter Games, Khelo India Youth Games and Khelo India University Games.
Participation In Khelo India Events
| Events | Year started | Number of events held | Total Participation |
Khelo India Youth Games | 2018 | 5 | 25,027 |
Khelo India University Games | 2020 | 3 | 7,060 |
In Khelo India Youth Games, 48 per cent participants were women athletes, which is around 12,000 participants.
Khelo India Games also helped in providing employment to more than 7,000 people who worked as support staff, 7,000 more people as volunteers and over 5,000 people as technical officials.
