SAI’s budget reduced by Rs 66 crore

New Delhi, Feb 1: The budget allocation of the Sports Authority of India (SAI) has been reduced by more than Rs 66 crore, as Fince Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday allocated Rs 2,196.35 crore to the ministry of youth affairs and sports for 2018-19 fiscal.

While the ministry got an increase of Rs 351 crore from the last fincial year, SAI, the nodal agency for sports in the country, got Rs 429.56 crore. It had got Rs 495.73 crore in the revised estimates for the 2017-18 fiscal.

India will take part in the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games in 2018 and that has played a part in the sports budget hike.

The ministry's flagship programme, Khelo India scheme is a major beneficiary, getting Rs 520.09 crore as against last fiscal year's Rs. 350 crore. The 2016-17 fiscal's Khelo India budget was Rs 140 crore.

Meanwhile, the allocation for sports in Jammu and Kashmir has been reduced by Rs 25 crore. The budget allocation stands at Rs 50 crore.

Assistance to Promotion of Sports Excellence, which includes assistance to tiol sports federations, got Rs 347 crore, a hike of Rs 35.18 crore.

The tiol Service Scheme has got Rs 160 crore in place of Rs. 146.12 crore in 2017-2018 fiscal.

The budget allocation for Incentive to Sports Persons stands at Rs 23 crore, a hike of Rs 4.77 crore. The tiol Youth Corps has got Rs 80 crore, a hike of Rs 20 crore. IANS