New Delhi, July 2025 — The Union Cabinet formally approved the National Sports Policy 2025—also known as Khelo Bharat Niti—marking a significant overhaul of India’s sports framework. Replacing the 2001 policy, NSP 2025 aims to elevate India into a top-five sporting nation by 2047, laying the groundwork for a global push leading up to the 2036 Olympic Games.
📌 Five Core Pillars of NSP 2025
- Excellence on the Global Stage
Early talent scouting and athlete nurturing, modern training infrastructure, professional leagues, and data-driven performance monitoring are at the heart of this pillar. Investments in sports science, coaching standards, and federation reform are central to the strategy. - Sports for Economic Growth
The policy encourages private investment through PPP models and CSR, promotes sports tourism, local sports manufacturing, startup innovation, and new sports leagues to drive employment and industry expansion - Social Development and Inclusion
NSP 2025 pushes for increased participation among women, tribal communities, economically disadvantaged groups, and differently-abled individuals. It also promotes traditional games and dual-career pathways balancing academics and sports. - Sports as a People’s Movement
The policy promotes mass engagement through fitness campaigns, community sports events, and introduces fitness indices for schools, colleges, and workplaces—trying to make sports a mainstream part of everyday life. - Integration with Education (NEP 2020 Alignment)
Physical Education is now a core academic subject. NSP 2025 emphasizes school-level sports integration, training of PE teachers, dual pathways for student-athletes, and embedding sports literacy from early childhood.
⚙️ Governance, Technology & Implementation Framework
- Strong governance reforms are planned, with legislation to reform National Sports Federations and introduce independent oversight mechanisms, including application to bodies such as the BCCI.
- The policy also promotes the use of AI, analytics, wearable tech, real-time dashboards, and sports medicine infrastructure to improve performance tracking and athlete support.
- A national monitoring system with Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), timelines, and regular assessments will guide execution. State-level sports policies will be aligned under this unified framework, supported by coordination across ministries.
🚀 Key Related Policy Moves
- The National Sports Governance Bill 2025, set to be introduced in Parliament, aims to bring federations including BCCI under regulatory oversight, with athlete safety protocols and grievance mechanisms built in
- Coaches across India are set to receive a 50% salary hike to enhance motivation and retention, alongside increased funding support for hosting international events.
- Government backing for 13 new franchise-based sports leagues across Olympic and non-Olympic disciplines further underscores the transition toward professionalised sport programming.
