New Delhi, May 24 (IANS) Identifying the Northeast as a powerhouse of sports talent, the Central Government, through the Sports Ministry, will start massive talent identification and promotion schemes, including organising annual multi-discipline sports competitions to help strengthen the sports ecosystem of the region.

Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya on Saturday said that the central government is fully committed to strengthening the sports ecosystem in the region through multiple initiatives, including hosting Khelo India Northeast Games in one of the 8 Northeast states every year. These states include Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

The Union Sports Minister announced this while addressing a large gathering during the Rising Northeast Investors Summit 2025 at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on Saturday.

Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya said people knew Northeast as the region of India’s first sunrise but in the 10 years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, the Northeast is taking strong strides towards development. He said that Northeast is continuously contributing towards the development of ‘Naya Bharat’.

With the target of hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2030 and the Summer Olympics in 2036, the Sports Minister said that a country as vast as India is a perfect place for organising international competitions throughout the year.

Elaborating on this he said that currently, India is experiencing three seasons – monsoon in Southern India, snowfall in areas in the upper reaches of the Himalayas, and summer heat in Western India. According to him, India was the best choice for ‘Play in India’ like the ‘Make in India’ initiative by PM Modi.

“The way the Northeast is undergoing transformation, the sports goods industry and sports ecosystem are developing, the day is not far when the world will converge in the Northeast to play. Today, India’s best athletes are coming from the Northeast. They are representing India in top international competitions and taking Indian sports forward.

"In line with the Khelo India Youth Games and University Games, we will be staging the Khelo India Northeast Games here every year, which will not only help us scout talent and harness potential but also provide a platform to showcase our traditional games as well,” Dr Mandaviya said.

Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya said the sports infrastructure in the Northeast has increased exponentially, with 86 projects currently in use. Under the Khelo India scheme, Rs 439 crore was sanctioned in 2021 for 64 sports infrastructure projects across the Northeast region. These include synthetic turfs, multipurpose halls, swimming pools, and hostels.

The Sports Minister said the region is home to 152 Khelo India Centres (KICs), which are training more than 8000 athletes, and 8 Khelo India State Centres of Excellence (KISCEs) that are paving the way for a robust grassroots ecosystem. As of now, three National Centres of Excellence (NCOEs) in Guwahati, Itanagar, and Imphal are providing world-class training to 600 athletes.

Giving an example of Khelo India’s flagship scheme for women, the Sports Minister said that around 13,000 girls from the Northeast competed in the ASMITA League across various disciplines last year. This was enough proof of how the region is gradually becoming a good nursery of talent that will provide a strong bench strength for the national team later, the Ministry informed in a release on Saturday.

Dr. Mandaviya also informed that the Government will be starting a massive talent identification drive across the sub-continent where anyone can shoot a video of a player’s performance and send it to the Sports Ministry by uploading it on the National Sports Repository System (NSRS) portal.

SAI will send talent scouts to the location of the event, and after assessing the performance of the athlete will induct him in either the Khelo India Centre or NCOE, depending on their potential.

The Northeast region hosted the Khelo India University Games Ashtalakshmi in 2023. It was a landmark moment showcasing Northeast’s capability to host large-scale national events in disciplines like athletics, football, boxing, and archery.

--IANS

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