Sports Ministry seeks proposal from Niti Aayog on plans to privatise sports infrastructure

Some premier sports infrastructures in India including the famous Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi are set to get privatised soon. The union government has plans of throwing the stadiums open for private investments. Meanwhile, with no clear idea about the proposal, the sports ministry has made it clear that they want to have a look at the proposal. 

“Yes, one of the members of Niti Aayog has mooted the idea during a recent meeting but our stand remains clear, we want the stadiums to be utilised only for the country’s elite sportspersons,” a Sports Ministry official told PTI.

“We have sought a detailed proposal from the Niti Aayog on how the infrastructure will be utilised under the PPP model. We are neither against the idea nor agreeing to it for now as we want the stadiums to be utilised only for elite sports.”

Indira Gandhi Sports Complex and the Karnail Singh Stadium in the national capital are the other two sports venues which will be put under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. The Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium had earlier hosted big tournaments like the 2010 Commonwealth Games and 2017 Under-17 football World Cup. On the other hand, the Indira Gandhi Stadium is an indoor venue and has hosted many international boxing and wrestling events.

“The IGI stadium has the only world-class cycling velodrome in the country where elite sportspersons can train. The interest of our athletes comes first. Let them (NITI Ayog) give us the proposal first, we will elaborately study it and see what is in the best interest of our athletes. We won’t take any decision which is against the country’s sportspersons,” the official added.