Under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, India has witnessed a paradigm shift in its approach to sports development since 2014. Sports are now recognised not only as a medium of fitness and recreation but also as a powerful tool to foster national pride, unity, and global excellence. Guided by the Prime Minister’s vision, India aspires to become a leading sporting nation, securing consistent podium finishes at the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, and Asian Games.

As India bids for the 2030 Commonwealth Games and aims to secure the 2036 Olympics, it is essential to work on both the soft infrastructure to identify, coach and nurture talent and hard infrastructure to ensure country’s sports facilities and manufacturing capabilities meet global standards, offering state-of-the-art training and competition venues.

On the soft infrastructure side, the government has already made sports a national priority through flagship initiatives such as Khelo India, Fit India Movement, Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), Khelo Bharat Niti 2025 and the National Sports Governance Act. These programs collectively aim to enhance India’s international sporting performance while building a robust and inclusive sporting ecosystem by employing two key strategies: backward linkages, which involve strengthening grassroots infrastructure, enhancing talent identification, and improving coaching and support systems; and forward linkages, which ensure that trained athletes have access to high-performance programs, international exposure, and top-tier facilities, enabling them to compete successfully at the........

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