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The Union Cabinet has approved a revamped Khelo India Scheme which, together with an enhanced Assistance to National Sports Federations component, carries a combined outlay of Rs 36,441 crore for the period 2026-27 to 2030-31.
The expanded design adds Khelo India Feeder Schools, Khelo India Utkrishta Vidyalayas, an Emerging Khelo India Athletes category that widens the structured athlete pool nearly ten-fold, a National Coach Accreditation Board and a unified digital platform for athlete, infrastructure and funding data.
As of July 2026 the scheme had approved 349 sports infrastructure projects worth Rs 3,176 crore, set up 1,067 Khelo India Centres, supported 267 academies and backed 2,745 Khelo India Athletes.
The scheme is aligned with Khelo Bharat Niti 2025 and the National Education Policy 2020, and is meant to support the 2030 Commonwealth Games, India's Olympic and Paralympic hosting ambitions and the goal of placing India among the world's leading sporting nations by 2036.
Build a continuous pathway from grassroots participation to international podiums through training centres, coaching, sports science, competitions and infrastructure
Key: Formed by merging Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan, Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme and National Sports Talent Search Scheme; the revamped phase carries a combined Rs 36,441 crore with enhanced Assistance to National Sports Federations
Fund recognised national sports federations for coaching, sports science, equipment, training and international exposure of their athletes
Key: Enhanced and packaged along with the revamped Khelo India Scheme inside the Rs 36,441 crore combined outlay
Give India's most competitive athletes the individualised support needed to win Olympic and Paralympic medals
Key: Launched by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in September 2014 and revamped in April 2018 with a dedicated technical support team; monthly stipend of Rs 50,000 for the core group and Rs 25,000 for the Development Group; as of April 2026 it supported 51 Core Athletes, 52 Para Core Athletes and 130 Development Athletes
Identify and nurture sporting talent among children aged 9 to 18 through standardised, technology-assisted assessment
Key: Uses Talent Assessment Centres, standardised protocols, artificial intelligence and data analytics; 174 Talent Assessment Centres operating and 1,87,921 assessments completed; targets a top-10 sporting nation by 2036 and top-5 by 2047
Promote physical activity and active lifestyles as a mass public movement rather than a competitive-sport programme
Key: Launched in 2019; expanded further under the revamped Khelo India phase to widen everyday participation
Set the strategic direction for Indian sport, from grassroots participation to global excellence and sports-led economic development
Key: Approved by the Union Cabinet, it replaced the National Sports Policy of 2001; the revamped Khelo India Scheme is explicitly aligned to it and to NEP 2020
Make India a global hub for high-quality, affordable sports goods and cut import dependence in equipment
Key: Announced in the Union Budget 2026-27 with an allocation of Rs 500 crore, covering manufacturing capacity, equipment design research, material sciences and supply-chain integration
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports' field arm for sports promotion and excellence; runs the SAI Training Centres and National Centres of Excellence that anchor the Khelo India pathway
India's National Olympic Committee; selects and manages Indian teams for the Olympic Games, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. It joined the Khelo India Games initiative in 2018, after which the School Games were renamed the Khelo India Youth Games
The principal regulator created under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025 — it recognises national sports bodies and registers their affiliates, and only recognised bodies can receive central funds
New body announced under the revamped Khelo India Scheme to set and enforce coaching standards across the athlete pathway
Khelo India Scheme launched, merging the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan, the Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme and the National Sports Talent Search Scheme
Khelo India School Games launched in New Delhi; the Indian Olympic Association joins the initiative later that year
The event is renamed the Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG), which remains the flagship competition under the Khelo India umbrella
Khelo India University Games (KIUG) and Khelo India Winter Games (KIWG) introduced
Khelo India Para Games (KIPG) held for the first time
Khelo India Beach Games (KIBG) and the Khelo India Water Sports Festival launched
Khelo India Tribal Games (KITG) make their debut
PIB Backgrounder sets out the revamped Khelo India Scheme with a combined outlay of Rs 36,441 crore for 2026-27 to 2030-31
Passed by the Lok Sabha on 11 August 2025 and the Rajya Sabha on 12 August 2025, and assented to by the President on 18 August 2025. It creates a statutory framework for recognising and governing the National Olympic Committee, the National Paralympic Committee, National Sports Federations and Regional Sports Federations, constitutes the National Sports Board as regulator and the National Sports Tribunal for disputes, and ties central funding to recognition — which is the machinery through which the enhanced Assistance to National Sports Federations will flow
The policy document the revamped scheme is aligned to; it replaced the National Sports Policy, 2001 and frames sport as an instrument of nation-building, including India's 2036 Olympic ambitions
Cited as the second alignment for the revamped scheme; NEP 2020 treats sport as part of mainstream curricular activity, which is what Khelo India Feeder Schools and Khelo India Utkrishta Vidyalayas operationalise
Sport falls under the State List, which is why Khelo India Training Centres in districts are delivered through State and Union Territory plans and why the Centre works largely through funding, federations and SAI institutions rather than direct administration
| Aspect | Khelo India Scheme | Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) | KIRTI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launched | 2017 (revamped for 2026-27 to 2030-31) | September 2014; revamped April 2018 | Announced as a talent identification initiative under the Khelo India umbrella |
| Stage of the pathway | Grassroots to national — centres, academies, competitions and infrastructure | Elite end — athletes judged capable of Olympic and Paralympic medals | Entry point — talent identification among children aged 9 to 18 |
| Core instrument | Khelo India Centres, Accredited Academies, Centres of Excellence, Khelo India Games | Foreign training, international competition, coaching camps, specialised equipment and a monthly stipend | Talent Assessment Centres using standardised protocols, AI and data analytics |
| Headline figures | 1,067 Khelo India Centres, 267 academies, 2,745 Khelo India Athletes (July 2026) | 51 Core Athletes, 52 Para Core Athletes, 130 Development Athletes (April 2026); Rs 50,000 and Rs 25,000 monthly stipends | 174 Talent Assessment Centres; 1,87,921 assessments completed |
| Stated horizon | Among the world's leading sporting nations by 2036 | Olympic and Paralympic medals at each Games cycle | Top-10 sporting nation by 2036 and top-5 by 2047 |
The enhanced Assistance to National Sports Federations only reaches federations that the National Sports Board recognises under the 2025 Act — funding and regulation are now legally linked
Khelo India Feeder Schools and Khelo India Utkrishta Vidyalayas are the sports-in-schooling expression of NEP 2020's treatment of sport as curricular rather than extracurricular
The scheme's own justification is that roughly 65 per cent of India's population is below 35 — the same demographic argument used for skilling and employment policy
The scheme is positioned as supporting the 2030 Commonwealth Games, India's Olympic and Paralympic hosting ambitions and the 2047 vision, making it a sports-sector instance of the wider 2047 planning frame
The separate Rs 500 crore sports goods manufacturing initiative in the Union Budget 2026-27 extends domestic manufacturing policy into sports equipment
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Khelo India and TOPS appear in almost every SSC and Railway cycle; the National Sports Governance Act, 2025 is newly examinable and pairs naturally with them
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports scheme through which recognised national sports federations are funded for coaching, sports science, equipment, training and international exposure; enhanced alongside the revamped Khelo India Scheme
A new athlete category in the revamped scheme intended to widen the structured athlete pool nearly ten-fold, sitting below the Khelo India Athletes tier and feeding into TOPS
School-level institutions introduced under the revamped scheme to integrate sport with mainstream education and identify talent early
New body announced under the revamped scheme to set and certify coaching standards nationally