The Sports Ministry of India is all set to upgrade eight Khelo India State Centres of Excellence (KISCE). The whole upgrade is estimated to cost around 95.19 crore INR. The only aim of KISCE is to identify the hidden champions in the country and groom them to become future Olympic champions.

Speaking about the decision to set up the KISCEs, Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said, “These Khelo India State Center of Excellence is yet another step towards building a robust sports ecosystem one hand and India’s pursuit of excellence in Olympics, on the other.”

He further added, “These state-of-the-art centres will ensure that athletes proficient in a certain sport can be given the highest level of training and these centres become the best facilities in the country to train athletes in the priority sport for which they have been earmarked.”

“I am confident this step will help to further India’s effort pf becoming one of the top 10 countries in the Olympics 2028.”

As per a sports ministry statement, each KISCE will be extended sports-specific support in 14 Olympic sports, out of which one state or Union Territory will be given support for a maximum of 3 sports. Eight states that have been approved for setting up of KISCEs in the first leg are Odisha, Mizoram, Telangana, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala.