Initially, sports in India lacked institutional focus, with minimal government support and a societal emphasis on academics over athletics. Sports and physical education were often viewed as extracurricular activities due to limited career prospects.

However, over time, this changed through supportive government policies and interventions, providing grassroots training, scholarships, and infrastructure, thus transforming sports into an organized sector. 

These efforts culminated in the landmark Khelo Bharat Niti 2025. Programs like Khelo India have been pivotal, offering young athletes national youth leagues, advanced training facilities, and scholarships. 

These efforts have shifted perceptions, fostering a culture of encouragement and providing infrastructure, coaching, and career opportunities, enabling countless enthusiasts to pursue sports professionally with pride and ambition. 

Khelo Bharat Niti – 2025 is a landmark initiative aimed at reshaping the country’s sporting landscape and empowering citizens through sports. It focuses on strengthening sports programmes from grassroots to elite levels, with mechanisms for early identification and nurturing of talent, promoting competitive leagues and competitions, and developing infrastructure in rural and urban areas. It also aims to build world-class systems for training, coaching, and holistic athlete support, while enhancing the capacity and governance of NSFs.

This policy aims to fundamentally transform the existing sports system.

• The policy aims to utilize sports for nation-building, economic growth, and social inclusion, in line with the Viksit Bharat vision.
• Aims to position India as a global sporting powerhouse with a strategic plan targeting excellence at the 2036 Olympics and building the case to host them, possibly.
• Promotes early talent identification, comprehensive athlete support, and the integration of sports science, medicine, and technology, which are essential for enhancing international performance.
• Highlights sports as a major economic driver by boosting sports tourism, attracting international events, and supporting sports startups. 
• Encourages private sector investment via public-private partnerships (PPPs), corporate social responsibility (CSR), and creative funding approaches, laying the groundwork for a sustainable sports industry ecosystem.
• Promotes participation of women, marginalized groups, tribal communities, and people with disabilities, empowering them through sports.
• Positions sports as a viable career pathway via education integration and volunteerism.
• It aims to transform sports into a people’s movementthrough national campaigns, fitness indices in institutions, and community-level access, supporting a healthier population.
• Engaging with the Indian diaspora through sports.
• Integrating sports into the school curriculum as per the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, while training and encouraging physical education and instilling lifelong fitness habits. 

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