This National Sports Day comes at a time of celebration for the country with its cricket team emerging victorious against long-standing rivals Pakistan in the ongoing Asian Cup 2022. The narrow victory greatly highlights India’s recent momentum and slew of impressive performances.

Away from the mass eyeballs of cricket, India has also seen individual brilliance across the board. India’s golden boy, Neeraj Chopra became the first Indian to clinch the Diamond League meeting title with his win last week in Lausane. Linthoi Chanambam, who is only 16 years of age, won India’s first World Title in Judo as recently as 26 th August.

Even in the Commonwealth Games 2022, India’s performance was impressive. Though, in sheer numbers, the number of medals won have reduced, this is owing to the reduction in the number of competitions/ disciplines in the Games. Disciplines like shooting, archery and Greco-Roman wrestling, traditionally India’s strengths were not included in the games. As a case in point, shooting has been India’s most successful sport across the 17 editions of the Games, counting for 63 gold medals. In the previous edition at Gold Coast, 16 out of 66 gold medals India won were from shooting. Amounting for these discrepancies, India returned with its best-ever performance at Commonwealth Games, 2022.

The government’s changing role of being an enabler, rather than a regulator has allowed the private sector to come in and support sports at various levels. Having India’s two largest business houses, Adani and Reliance is testimony to the growing involvement of the private sector in India’s sports.

However, to ensure the country’s long-term success in competing and winning at the global stage, against the likes of USA, China, Australia etc., India needs to undertake a holistic strategy towards the development of sports in the country. This requires modern methods of coaching and facilities from the right level and an increasing involvement of the private sector.

Neeraj Chopra also highlighted the need for increasing private sector involvement at the grassroots level. Speaking at the launch of a new campaign of a leading beverage brand, he highlighted, “There is a good amount of interest and sponsorships from corporate houses for athletes and sports players who have reached the top levels. But if there is a lot more corporate sponsorship at the grassroots levels too, it would be more beneficial to promote sports in India.”

When it comes to infrastructure, the country needs to move away from creating large sports stadiums which are sparsely used to sports complexes with world-class facilities. Such Sports Complexes need to address the unique needs of the local communities, identify local talent and provide them with a pathway for their development.

The government has realised the need for increased private sector involvement in sports infrastructure. The Sports Revitalisation Action Plan by NITI Aayog in 2018 encouraged increased private sector participation to create commercially successful projects. In the subsequent year, another report by NITI Aayog highlighted that Sports Infrastructure across the country has the potential to generate a revenue of INR 100 billion by FY 2023.

Echoing these thoughts, Mr. Amrit Mathur., Senior Expert at EBTC also mentioned, “Sports infra must meet the needs of the community and become a hub / centre of all common activities. It needs to move away from focusing on size and large-ticket events. It needs to cater to both amateur and professional use as well as non-sporting needs. Such optimal use will create a commercially viable project across the asset lifecycle.”

The involvement of the private sector has invigorated many sectors of the Indian economy since its opening up in 1991. A very close relation would be the OMDA model which has successfully transformed airports in India. However, to attract private investments, it is important to keep the financial feasibility and a sound business plan at the forefront of any project.

Mr. Mathur also elaborated on the key aspects to create such financially sustainable projects, “There are three key pillars for such projects. First, we must focus on a business plan and create timeline based KPIs. All decisions, including the sports involved, seating, technologies etc. must be based on this. Second would be to augment the sporting with non-sporting round-the-year revenue streams. This could include concerts, MICE events, incubation, hospitality etc.”

“The last most would be to minimise costs and increase efficiency. Smart technologies and operational excellence are crucial to achieve this. At a time when sports assets increasingly compete with one another, the ones offering superior services, facilities and fan experience will be favoured.”

“Crafting a financially-successful PPP model requires a personalised approach considering the particular local needs and multiple stakeholders. It is important to involve relevant expertise from the planning phase. Once the asset is created, it is crucial to have dedicated specialists to sell various these facilities/ services.”

As we celebrate our 10 th National Sports Day, the need to give India world-class sporting infrastructure it truly deserves is extremely clear. The nation’s vision of having a sports complex at every block, is highlighted through the Khelo India programme. Europe’s leadership in creating commercially as well as environmentally successful sports infrastructure is crucial.

The EBTC Europe-India Sports Cluster is a unique initiative in this regard. With leading innovative and forward-thinking companies from both regions, the cluster is a platform for advocacy, thought leadership and project opportunities. It aims to identify and co-create unique sports models in India.