Budget 2026-27: In busy year for sports, a modest jump

NEW DELHI: Even as union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a first-time grant of Rs 500 crore to the sports goods manufacturing sector, the overall budgetary distribution to the ministry of youth affairs and sports (MYAS) for the year 2026-27 witnessed no major hike despite the Commonwealth and Asian Games scheduled this year, as the govt earmarked an allocation of Rs 4479.88 crore, resulting in a modest increase of Rs 685.58 crore from the previous fiscal period.An analysis of the sports budget revealed that the ministry failed to fully utilise its original allocation of Rs 3794.30 crore for the financial year 2025-26, with the Department of Expenditure (DoE) in the finance ministry revising the amount to Rs 3346.54 crore due to the non-utilisation of funds, primarily for the Khelo India schemes. The revised estimate (RE) meant that the 2025-26 sports budget was cut down (Rs 3794.30-Rs 3364.54 crore) by Rs 447.76 crore by the DoE.From that context alone, the ministry’s budget for the financial year 2026-27 saw a marginal increase of Rs 685.58 crore (Rs 4479.88-Rs 3794.30 crore), with the major chunk being earmarked to promote sports goods manufacturing hubs by allocating Rs 500 crore. The ministry has been projecting that it received an overall hike of Rs 1133.34 crore (Rs 4479.88-Rs 3346.54 crore) in sports budget for the coming financial year as compared to the previous fiscal period (2025-26). But, in reality, the increase has been Rs 685.58 crore, when compared with the original figures (budgetary allocation) of two financial years (2025-26 & 2026-27).Another striking aspect of the sports budget was the surprise reduction in the allocation to the country’s anti-doping establishments, The National Dope Testing Laboratory (NDTL) and National Anti-Doping Agency’s (NADA) budget got reduced from Rs 28.55 crore (revised estimate) in 2025-26 to Rs 23 crore and from Rs 24.30 crore (revised estimate) to Rs 20.30 crore, respectively. While the NDTL’s budget was slashed to Rs 5.55 crore, NADA’s budgetary grant saw a sharp cut of Rs 4 crore.The govt’s flagship Khelo India programme received an allocation of Rs 924.35 crore.The allocation for Sports Authority of India (SAI) was enhanced from Rs 880 crore to Rs 917.38 crore. The assistance for the CWG was hiked from Rs 28.05 crore to Rs 50 crore this year, which is a 78 percent increase from last year.