Sports Minister asks corporates to adopt one sport each in round table

Sports Minister asks corporates to adopt one sport each in round table

Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya asked the corporates to adopt one sport each, in an interaction with about 40 corporates in the Capital on Thursday.

Explaining the country’s vision to be a top-5 sports power in the world by 2047, Mandaviya stressed the critical role of public-private partnership for sustainable sports infrastructure and talent development.

“Each corporate entity should focus on a single sport to ensure dedicated attention and optimal resource allocation,” the Sports Minister said.

He also asked the corporates to contribute towards upgrading sports facilities in district-level schools, apart from developing Olympic training centres, sports academies, and also be actively involved in the organisation of nation-level leagues in disciplines that are yet to take up such ventures.

“The sports minister wanted to understand our view and how to take Indian sports forward. The government is already doing a lot of incredible work in sport. The corporates are also doing their bit. The idea is to collaborate and improve our medal tally in the 2036 Olympics,” said the Managing Director of JSW Sports, Parth Jindal.

“Development of sports in the rural areas is the need of the hour. A lot of raw talent resides in more than six lakh villages. They need to be nurtured and motivated to play sports. We will have further dialogue with officials to do our best for rural sports,” said PK Sinha, the Chairman of ICICI Bank.

“Engaging young generation to play sports is of great importance, as the kids are spending many hours on the mobile. If we want to have a healthier and fitter generation, we have to get to the towns where sports is still not a priority. We are present in 14 States and 27 cities, and would like to develop sports infrastructure at the district level,” said Puneet Dalmia, the Managing Director of Dalmia Cement.