sports
Sports Authority of IndiaWikimedia Commons

Just like the financial experts and others, sports enthusiasts also kept a close watch on Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday (February 1) as he presented the Union Budget 2017. They were eager to know what the finance minister had planned for their favourite sector.

Read: Income Tax highlights from Budget 2017.

They were not disappointed as Jaitely allocated Rs 1,943 crore in the 2017-18 fiscal for the development of sports, marking a hike of Rs 351 crore from that last year. However, there were also a few damepeners as allocations for the promotion of sports among the disabled and the National Sports Development Fund were reduced by a big margin.

Key highlights from the Sports Budget 2017

Budget allocations at a glance

Sports bodies/initatives Budget allocation 2017 Budget allocation 2016
Sports Authority of India (SAI) Rs 481 crore Rs 416 crore
Assistance to national sports federations Rs 302 crore Rs 185 crore
Sports development in North East area Rs 148.4 crore Rs 131.33
Sports development in Jammu & Kashmir Rs 75 crore Rs 75 crore
National Service Scheme (sports) Rs 144 crore Rs 137.50 crore
Khelo India Rs 350 crore Rs 140 crore
Budget for identifying and nurturing sports talent Rs 50 lakh 0

Major dampeners

Sports bodies/initiatives Budget allocation 2017 Budget allocation 2016
Sports promotion among disabled Rs 1 lakh Rs 4 crore
National Sports Development Fund Rs 2 crore Rs 5 crore