For decades, Indian sport was defined by paradox. A nation of vast population and raw talent continued to underperform on the global stage, with international success hinging on a handful of exceptional individuals rather than a reliable system.
That narrative has begun to change decisively over the past seven years. At the centre of this shift lies the Khelo India National Programme for Development of Sports, launched in 2018, which has gradually transformed India from a country chasing medals into one building a sustainable high-performance ecosystem .
Khelo India was conceived to fix what policymakers described as a “leaky pipeline” a system where talent identified at school or junior level often disappeared before reaching senior elite sport. Financial insecurity, lack of scientific coaching, poor competition exposure, and uneven infrastructure meant that promise rarely translated into podium finishes. Instead of focusing narrowly on elite athletes, the programme adopted a lifecycle approach: identify talent early, support it financially, develop it scientifically, and retain it through structured competition and infrastructure.
At a structural level, Khelo India operates through multiple interlinked verticals. These include the creation and upgrading of sports infrastructure, nationwide competitions for talent identification, establishment of Khelo India Centres and State Centres of Excellence, promotion of fitness at the mass level, and inclusivity through women’s and para-sports.
Between 2021–22 and 2025–26, the programme has been backed by an outlay of over ₹3,165 crore, signalling a clear policy commitment to long-term sporting development rather than short-term medal targets .
The competitive backbone of the ecosystem is its tiered national events. The Khelo India Youth Games (Under-17 and Under-21) have emerged as the country’s largest talent-identification platform, growing from 18 sports in its inaugural edition to 27 disciplines by 2025. Alongside it, the Khelo India University Games, Winter Games, Para Games, and Beach Games ensure that athletes across age groups, abilities, and geographies are funnelled into the national system.
Crucially, these competitions are conducted with international-level officiating and technology, exposing young athletes to elite environments far earlier than previous generations.
What truly distinguishes Khelo India from past initiatives is its scientific approach to talent identification. The introduction of the Khelo India Rising Talent Identification (KIRTI) programme marks a fundamental shift away from subjective scouting. Using artificial intelligence, biomechanics, and standardized physical testing, KIRTI aims to assess nearly 20 lakh children annually between the ages of 9 and 18. Athletes are evaluated against uniform “Bharat Benchmarks”, ensuring that a child in a remote district is measured by the same criteria as one training in a metropolitan academy.
This data-driven approach significantly reduces bias and helps identify latent talent that may never have entered organized sport .
Financial stability is another pillar of the ecosystem. Through the Khelo India Athlete (KIA) scholarship, approximately 3,000 athletes each year receive support worth ₹6.28 lakh annually for up to eight years. This includes a direct monthly allowance for personal expenses and comprehensive coverage for training, coaching, diet, equipment, medical care, and competition exposure.
For athletes from modest backgrounds, this has been transformative. It allows families to support sporting careers without sacrificing education or livelihood a key reason why retention from junior to senior level has improved markedly .
Infrastructure development under Khelo India follows a tiered model. At the grassroots are Khelo India Centres (KICs), over 1,000 of which now operate across districts, often led by former national athletes employed as coaches. Above them are Khelo India State Centres of Excellence (KISCEs), which focus on sports where individual states have traditional strengths. At the apex are National Centres of Excellence (NCOEs) run by the Sports Authority of India, providing world-class facilities, sports science, biomechanics, nutrition, and psychological support.
This layered system ensures that athletes can progress without being forced into disruptive relocations at an early age.
The impact of this ecosystem is increasingly visible in results. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, 28 members of the Indian contingent were Khelo India-supported athletes. Medalists such as Manu Bhaker, Aman Sehrawat, Sarabjot Singh, and Swapnil Kusale all emerged from this structured pathway. Beyond medals, performances such as Avinash Sable reaching the steeplechase final or Lakshya Sen’s deep run in badminton signalled competitive parity with the world’s best a qualitative leap from merely participating to contending.
Para-sports perhaps best illustrate the programme’s inclusive success. From just four medals at the Rio 2016 Paralympics, India surged to 29 medals at Paris 2024. Equal access to scholarships, infrastructure, and elite coaching has ensured that disability is no longer a barrier to excellence but simply another dimension of high-performance planning.
Challenges remain. Regional disparities persist, coaching quality is uneven, and digital systems like the National Sports Repository are still evolving. Yet, the direction is unmistakable. Khelo India has shifted Indian sport from reliance on chance to dependence on process.
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In essence, the programme has redefined success not as an outcome, but as a system. By repairing the pipeline from playground to podium, Khelo India has laid the groundwork for India to emerge as a consistent global sporting force in the decades ahead not through sporadic brilliance, but through institutional excellence.
