The Sports Ministry has decided to include Assam, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya and Sikkim under its flagship scheme of Khelo India Scheme.

Sports ministry’s flagship Khelo India scheme aims to establish Khelo India State Centre of Excellence in each of these states. Their existing centres will be upgraded into Khelo India State Centre of Excellence (KISCE).

Earlier this year, the Sports Ministry had identified eight centres including Karnataka, Odisha, Kerala, Telengana and the northeast states of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland in the first leg. 

These centres have been shortlisted based on certain points:

• Training facilities available in priority sports, infrastructure facilities and champions produced by the centre.

• The sports facilities were selected by each State and UT, who was asked to identify the best sports infrastructure available with them that could be developed into world-class sporting facilities.

In order to upgrade the existing centre to the KISCE:

• Government will extend a ‘Viability Gap Funding’ in sports science and technology support for sports disciplines practiced at the centre and also bridge the gaps in requirement of sports equipment, expert coaches and high-performance managers.

• The support extended will be to a maximum of 3 Olympic sports per centre, though support can be extended in sports science and allied fields in other sporting disciplines being run in the centre.

The six centres include:

1. Assam – State Sports Academy, Sarjusajai Sports Complex, Guwahati

2. Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu - New Sports Complex, Silvassa

3. Maharashtra - Sree Shiv Chhatrapati Shivaji Sports Complex, Balewadi, Pune

4. Madhya Pradesh - MP Academy, Bhopal

5.Meghalaya - JNS Complex Shillong

6. Sikkim - Paljor Stadium, Gangtok