India at Paris Olympics: With an effort to increase India's medal count at the 2018 Summer Olympics in Paris, the Centre has spent a record Rs 470 crore preparing for the Games across 16 disciplines. The multisport tournament will take place in the French capital from July 26 to August 11.
India earned seven medals in total in the Tokyo Olympics, the most it has ever won in a single edition. Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra's achievement in Tokyo, when he finished second only to Abhinav Bindra, cleared the door for a funding boost for the athletics discipline this time around. According to official statistics from the Sports Authority of India's Mission Olympic Cell (MOC), the Centre spent a staggering Rs 96.08 crore on athletics, the highest of any sport.
In the last Olympic cycle, the sports ministry funded the discipline with Rs 5.38 crore from the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS). This implies the discipline's entire budget increased by roughly 1,685 percent. Chopra will head a 28-member team of athletes, with India's total presence at 118, in an effort to improve the country's athletic record at the Games.
How much funding did each sporting discipline receive?
After athletes, shuttlers received the second highest support this time, totaling Rs 72.02 crore. Boxing and shooting took the next two slots at Rs 60.93 crore and Rs 60.42 crore, respectively.
The Centre awarded Rs 41.29 crore to the hockey squad, which won a bronze medal the previous year, and Rs 39.18 crore to archery. The wrestlers earned Rs 37.80 crore, while weightlifters earned Rs 26.98 crore. Other sports, including tennis, golf, sailing, rowing, and swimming, have budgets of less than Rs 4 crore, according to the report. Equestrian, the discipline associated with horse riding, received the least money, at around Rs 95 lakh.
