A massive increment for yoga; a minor reduction for athletics. Football’s financial assistance reduced by almost half; a 50 per cent increase for table tennis.
The sports ministry tabled the figures for the financial assistance it provides to the national federations during the ongoing monsoon session of the parliament. And yoga — a sport that doesn’t feature in the government’s list of high-priority disciplines but is aiming for a spot at major multi-sport games — has emerged as the biggest beneficiary.
From a mere Rs 1.3 crore in 2022-23, Yogasana India has received almost a 400 percent hike in 2024-25 with the sports ministry allocating Rs 4.89 crore for the sport. In terms of percentage, it is the highest among the 25 sports listed by Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in his reply in the Rajya Sabha, responding to a question from BJP MP Sadanand Tanavde.
Yoga’s funding from the government is almost as much as chess, which has been allocated Rs 5.2 crore for 2024-25, and more than sports such as basketball (Rs 4.75 crore in 2024-25), volleyball (Rs 4.39 crore) and squash (Rs 4.45 crore).
“As a federation, we started getting funding very recently from the government. Unlike many other sports that have come to India from abroad, we are taking India’s heritage to the world. For that, we need to do substantial work,” Yogasana India president Udit Sheth said.
Meanwhile, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) saw its government assistance reduced by nearly 50 percent, down from Rs 15 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 8.78 crore in 2024-25. However, compared to 2023-24, when it received Rs 6.95 crore, football has seen a small increment. But the sport remains one of the biggest losers of public funds in the last few years, with its share reducing from Rs 30 crore in 2019-20 to the present level.
AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey said the higher budget in 2022-23 was due to the U-17 Women’s World Cup, which India hosted. “In 2022, India hosted the U-17 Women’s World Cup. So, the grant received from the government was used for that tournament,” Chaubey said. “In the other years, the allocation was based on the annual calendar depending on our requirements. According to that, the funding has been standard.”
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Other major sports like athletics and boxing, too, have seen minor reductions. In the case of athletics, the allocation has come down from Rs 30 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 26 crore in 2024-25 while the Boxing Federation of India’s share has gone down by Rs 2 crore — from Rs 24 crore in 2022-23 and 2023-24 to Rs 22 crore in 2024-25.
Beneficiaries
At the same time, table tennis’ funding has increased from Rs 8 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 12 crore in 2024-25.
“Our requirements have changed and so have our goals,” said Table Tennis Federation of India secretary general Kamlesh Mehta. “Earlier, we went to participate. Now, we are in the pursuit of excellence. We don’t just send players and coaches, an entire team of support staff travels with them; the number of tournaments we participate in has increased as well.”
A sports ministry official said the ‘minor fluctuations’ are par for the course depending on the needs of each federation.
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While yoga’s budget is still minuscule compared to the mainstream sports in which India regularly competes at the world level, there has been an increased push to take the sport — as Sheth puts it — from ‘ashrams to arenas’.
Yoga will be a demonstration sport at next year’s Asian Games in Japan and India is likely to include it in the programme for the 2030 Commonwealth Games, if the country wins the hosting rights. It is also one of the sports on the shortlist to be included if India’s ambitious bid for the 2036 Olympics is successful.
“This is our soft power. Next year, yoga will be included as a demo sport at the Asian Games. We have a lot of work to do to make it a regular sport,” Sheth added.
