Why does TN get fraction of proposed Khelo India funds despite good performance?

The Khelo India Youth Games 2025 concluded in Bihar recently, where Tamil Nadu clinched 14 gold medals, Kerala received 12 gold medals and Gujarat bagged only two gold medals.

However, the allocation to Tamil Nadu under Khelo India is as low as Rs 20.4 crore for the year 2024-25 against the proposal of Rs 120 crore. Meanwhile, Gujarat received an allocation of Rs 426.13 crore, but the state stood at 21st rank in the tournament. The allocation to Kerala was only about Rs 49.63 crore.

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The allocations for Tamil Nadu and Kerala under the Khelo India scheme for 2023-24 were Rs 29.5 crore and Rs 65.58 crore, respectively but Gujarat received Rs 606.37 crore.

Maharashtra topped the medal tally at the Khelo India Youth Games with 58 gold medals and 158 medals in total, followed by Haryana which bagged 39 gold medals and 117 medals overall. The state received about Rs 87.41 crore under Khelo India.

Rajasthan stood third with 24 gold medals and 60 total medals, receiving an allocation of Rs 107.33 crore for sports infrastructure development under the scheme.

Union govt apathy

While Tamil Nadu sent a proposal for Rs 120 crore, it merely received 16.6 percent of the proposed funds. The state government has announced several projects for sports infrastructure development in several districts.

A hockey and cricket stadium is planned in Coimbatore, mini stadiums are to be constructed in several parts of Chennai and the Sports Complex in Ramanathapuram is expected to get a synthetic athletic track and grass turf football stadium.

However, the lack of response from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on the proposed projects delays the progress of many similar projects.

Rajya Sabha MP P Wilson states that he raised the question of disparity in the fund allocation and the development of sports infrastructure under the Khelo India scheme in Tamil Nadu.

The Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports responded stating that the funds are allocated scheme-wise to all states and not state-wise under the Khelo India Scheme, adding that receiving proposals under the Khelo India scheme is an ongoing process.

The proposals received from the state/UT governments and other eligible entities are considered for financial support, subject to their completeness, technical feasibility and availability of funds under the scheme.

No proposal for TN

“Under the Khelo India Centres and Sports Academies component of the Khelo India Scheme, a total of 18 Khelo India Accredited Academies, 38 Khelo India Centres and 1 Khelo India State Centre of Excellence have been established in the state of Tamil Nadu for various sports disciplines.

"At present, there is no proposal under consideration to establish additional Khelo India centres in the state of Tamil Nadu,” the response stated.

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However, a senior official from the State Youth Welfare and Sports Development Department says that there are plans to set up state-of-the-art stadiums in all districts to uplift the sports infrastructure in the state.

“Many athletes from Tamil Nadu have performed well at the Olympics, Paralympics, National Games and other international events and tournaments. The proposal is sent considering the plans for infrastructure development in the state but the disparity in the funds allocation is a concern,” said the official.

No feedback from ministry

The lack of funds impacts the services and facilities for the athletes in the stadiums as the state plans to upgrade the equipment and resources for the sportspersons. The Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu hardly gets any feedback from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports on the proposed projects.

“We have received approval for only five proposals and that was also when the work was almost completed for them. Currently, there are about 12 proposals that are pending with the Union government. The offline applications for the funds were submitted in 2022-23 and then we were directed to apply online in 2023-24.

"However, after more than a year, the projects have not been discussed with the state government. We are awaiting a response from the Union government,” said an official from the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu.

Multi-disciplinary approach

While states like Karnataka, Haryana and others are focused on sports like swimming, wrestling and weightlifting only, Tamil Nadu is improving all disciplines of sports and the government aims at developing infrastructure across all disciplines.

Tamil Nadu has seen a good performance in athletics, basketball, volleyball, water volleyball, swimming and other sports, similar to Maharashtra which focuses on multiple disciplines of sports at the Khelo India Youth Games.

Athletics coach with Sports Authority of India Dilip Kumar says that they are unaware of the reasons cited for the delay in the approvals of infrastructure development projects and they find it challenging to train the athletes in the absence of adequate resources.

“We know that Khelo India was aimed at improving sports infrastructure in areas where there are not adequate facilities. When projects are proposed to improve the facilities for athletes in remote areas, they are not approved for more than a year. We don’t know what the criterion for the decision-making is and no discussion is held with the states on it,” he said.

State officials rue disparity

Even though Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are geographically large, the allocation does not consider the population and geography upon allocation.

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“A state's population and geography should also be considered when it comes to fund allocation as funds are utilised to set up facilities and provide resources throughout the state for a larger population. The project should be treated based on the vitality. When a few projects for Coimbatore were rejected citing that the district was getting project allocation disproportionately, we could look for alternative areas.

"However, the feedback on the proposed projects has not been provided for the last 2-3 years now and there is clear disparity,” said an official from the Youth Welfare and Sports Department in Tamil Nadu, pleading anonymity.