Mandaviya’s Medal Mission: Khelo Bharat Conclave Maps India’s Road to 2036 Gold Rush

Key highlights

 

In a roadmap outlined at the Khelo Bharat Conclave in New Delhi on July 17, Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya laid out a detailed, reform-based plan to take India into the top 10 at the 2036 Olympics and Paralympics—a milestone move in the nation's mission to emerge as a sporting superpower by 2047.

 

Strategic Blueprint: United for Olympic Glory

 

Mandaviya underlined unity, cooperation, and accountability among National Sports Federations (NSFs), corporates, and administrative authorities, and asserted that it is only through collective efforts that a quantum jump in India's Olympic prospects can be ensured.

 

All NSF have been asked to submit a five-year action plan by August 2025, which will form the basis of a ten-year Olympic roadmap developed in two phases: 2026-2031 and 2031-2036.

 

Policy and Governance Reforms

 

The Khelo Bharat Niti 2025 (National Sports Policy) and the National Sports Governance Bill—due in Parliament's Monsoon Session—constitute the essence of the reforms. They are focused on performance-based funding, transparency, and greater private sector involvement, with programs such as the One Corporate One Sport scheme to enhance sponsorship and funding.

 

Increased emphasis on innovation in sports goods, coaches' development, anti-doping protocols, and competitive league systems was highlighted, along with more robust grassroots and state-level alignments.

 

Talent Pipeline and Inclusivity

 

Mandaviya introduced a three-level Olympic talent pipeline: residential sport schools, intermediate training centers, and elite Olympic Training Centres, to develop more than 24,000 young athletes through a systematic pathway to elite excellence.

 

There were calls for more state investment, wider sports provision for disadvantaged groups, and synchronisation of sport with the education sector and grassroots economic regeneration.

 

Next Steps

 

NSFs must resolve internal disputes independently, and future grants will depend on demonstrated output, not mere proposals. Stakeholders were reminded that the path to "Viksit Bharat 2047" will be via sports, with medals only one metric of forging a new national identity for India on the world stage.

 

Sources: MyKhel, The Tribune, Times of India