Sports Ministry Hikes Funds for Championships and Coach Remuneration; Increased Funding for Federations -

Mansukh Mandaviya, SAI, Sports Ministry, Indian Olympic Association

May 23, 2025

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Sports Ministry Hikes Funds for Championships and Coach Remuneration; Increased Funding for Federations

The Indian Sports Ministry has revised the charges, salaries and fundings following the new Olympic cycle in 2025, to address the emerging financial challenges and bring in systematic reforms.

Ever since the Paris Olympics cycle was concluded in 2024, the new sporting cycle began soon after. This led to significant changes being adopted by the Union Sports Ministry, with an aim to ramp up and boost the quality and facilities available with the National Sports Federations (NSFs). India is a nation that relies heavily on its sporting culture and thrives on the wide representation at competitions and championships across an array of sports.

Both male and female sports personalities have been relentlessly brining laurels and accolades through their hard work and today several legends have emerged from India, who have gone on to become global sporting icons, with the likes of Prakash Padukone, Leander Paes, Sania Mirza, Neeraj Chopra, Virat Kohli, Sunil Chettri, PV Sindhu, Sachin Tendulkar and many more acting as the perfect ambassadors for their respective sport and the country.

Under the revised norms of ‘Scheme of Assistance’, NSFs will receive increased financial assistance from the Sports Ministry but will be required to show increased accountability and install a more professional setup, with appointment of High-Performance Directors and CEOs. The ministry has decided to hike the funds for national championships.

For the high-priority sports, the funding has increased from INR 51 lakhs to INR 90 lakhs, while for other sports it has increased to INR 75 lakhs.
For the international events to be hosted by India, the assistance has been increased to INR 2 crores.
Hockey, shooting, badminton, tennis, athletics, boxing, archery, wrestling and weightlifting have been termed as high-priority sports.

Systematic Reforms

Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has cited inflation in training cost and infrastructural development as they key reasons behind the increased financial assistance, along with India’s ambition to project itself as a strong contender to host the 2036 Olympic Games.

Not only sports federations, but the ministry has also increased the remuneration budgets for coaches and athletes. In its bid to attract top coaches for various disciplines, the ministry has hiked their salaries by a margin of 50 per cent. Chief National Coaches across varied sports will have an increased salary of INR 7.5 lakhs per month as compared to the previous INR 5 lakhs, an increment of INR 2.5 lakhs.

Mansukh Mandaviya, SAI, Sports Ministry, Indian Olympic Association

All other coaching positions will receive INR 3 lakhs monthly, up from their previous salary of INR 2 lakhs.
Senior athletes will receive INR 1000 per day as their daily dietary allowance, as compared to INR 690 earlier, while junior athletes will get INR 850 per day for their diet as compared to INR 480 earlier.

As the funding would increase for the NSFs, the ministry has instructed to ‘earmark at least 20 percent of the annual budget for grassroots development’. The ministry has stated that NSFs must identify a probable group of athletes in both senior and junior categories with high performance output, and channel it through credible affiliate units.

MYAS (Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports) has also made a provision for the additional dietary allowances for certain sports disciplines where it is felt that the diet charges are not adequate to meet the energy requirements of athletes for heavy and middleweight power events, sprints and low-weight power events.
These athletes will be trained at the accredited and government identified academies and will receive INR 10,000 per month as dietary allowance even during the non-camp days, so that they are not deprived of a proper diet.

In addition to the amounts allocated above, the hiked funding will also be utilized for coaches’ development, with 10 percent of the funds to be allocated for coaches’ development programs. This will also require the foreign professionals working in India to upgrade their skills through numerous efficient training programs.

Performance-Driven System

The sports ministry plans to convert and transform NSFs into fully functional governing bodies. There is a rampant need for professionalism in the operational mechanism of NSFs. As India aspires to host the 2036 Olympics, it is imperative that a robust, accountable, and performance-driven sporting ecosystem is established and set firmly.

The ministry has also made it mandatory for the NSFs to appoint a High-Performance Director (HPD). The federations will be given an annual budget of INR 10 crore to appoint the HPD and ensure that there are required CEOs and managers to run and manage this high-performance setup.

The imperative role that will be essayed by a HPD will be to design and monitor the sport’s technical development programme.
All NSFs will also contain a coaching education expert, who will be dedicated for training the trainers itself.
The federations can also leverage administrative manpower and allocate up to 10% of the total funding for appointing CEO/director, managers for several portfolios (finance, competition, coach development, IT, legal), office assistants, interns, etc.

Mansukh Mandaviya, SAI, Sports Ministry, Indian Olympic Association

The Sports Ministry has also elevated scrutiny over current functioning of the federations. It has issued mandatory guidelines and directed these bodies on pertinent matters regarding the organisation of national championships for NSFs and National Games for the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

The previous revision was done in February 2022, so all the above-mentioned modifications and increments have come after a gap of three years. The clear vision that lies ahead for India as a sporting nation is to transform and position itself as a ‘global sporting powerhouse’, capable of hosting top-notch events and provide a flawless experience to every participant.

FAQs on National Sports Federations:

1) What is the role of an NSF?

National Sports Federations (NSFs) play a crucial role in the promotion and development of sports, are responsible for organizing national championships and promoting their respective sports.

2) Who is the current Union Sports Minister of India?

Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya is the present head of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

3) What will be the new salary of national coaches in India?

As per the revised norms announced by the Sports Ministry, Chief National Coaches across varied sports will have an increased salary of INR 7.5 lakhs per month as compared to the previous INR 5 lakhs.