Aim to bring India among top five countries in sports by 2047: Mansukh Mandaviya

Hyderabad, Sep 20 (PTI) Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday said, as part of the vision of a developed India by 2047, the country aims to be among the top five in the world in the sports arena.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of the International Youth Seminar on Rising with Kindness at Kanha Shanti Vanam here, he said India aims to host the 2036 Olympics.

"For the vision of the next 25 years for the country’s development, we have also made a vision for sports that India aims to host the 2036 Olympics," he said.

And when India becomes a developed nation by 2047, the aim is to make the country among the top five in the world in the sports sector, he said.

The union minister said they have put in place an ecosystem including Khelo India, built stadiums, brought out schemes like the Targeted Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) and projects like KIRTI (Khelo India Rising Talent Identification) wherein talented sportspersons are identified at school-level itself and trained and the Central government is bearing the expenses to provide them with international-level exposure.

Mandaviya said this year’s budget is 100 per cent youth-centric with a financial outlay of Rs 2 lakh crore (provided over a five-year period for schemes and initiatives to facilitate employment, skilling and other opportunities for 4.1 crore youth).

The union government through Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme is making India ‘atmanirbhar’, he said.

The Centre launched ‘Mera Yuva Bharat - MY Bharat’ portal--a single window platform for the youth. They must be enthusiastic and motivated and put the knowledge gained for the development of the country with positivity, the sports and youth affairs minister said.

"We have to find solutions to country's problems based on our own model," he said, and recalled how India managed COVID-19. PTI