National Sports Policy (NSP) 2025:
The Union Cabinet has approved the National Sports Policy (NSP) 2025 (Khelo Bharat Niti 2025), replacing the National Sports Policy, 2001. It outlines a roadmap to make India a global sporting powerhouse with a focus on the 2036 Olympics.
Key Pillars of the National Sports Policy 2025:
- Excellence on the Global Stage: Focuses on strengthening sports from grassroots to elite levels through early talent identification, development of competitive leagues and infrastructure, and creation of world-class training and coaching systems. It also aims to enhance National Sports Federations’ governance, promote sports science and technology, and train coaches, officials, and support staff.
- Sports for Economic Development: It promotes sports tourism, startups, and private investment to strengthen India’s role in the global sports economy.
- Sports for Social Development: The policy emphasizes the role of sports in promoting social inclusion by encouraging participation from marginalized groups, reviving traditional and indigenous games, and fostering diaspora engagement and volunteering.
- Sports as a People’s Movement: To make sports a national movement, the policy aims to promote mass participation and a fitness culture through campaigns, introduce fitness indices for institutions, and improve access to sports facilities across the country.
- Integration with Education (NEP 2020): Aligned with National Education Policy 2020, it seeks to integrate sports into school curricula and train educators to foster early sports engagement.
