NEW DELHI: Indian contingent’s trip to the
Paris Olympics
will cost the exchequer Rs 33.68 crore – more than double of what was spent from the govt’s coffers during the Tokyo Games in 2021. The Games will run from July 26 to August 11.
TOI has learnt that the
Indian Olympic Association
(IOA) has worked out a detailed budget estimate for the Paris Games and the amount to be spent on the travel, accommodation, equipment and logistics needs of athletes, support staff and the government and IOA delegates would be around Rs 33 crore.
For Tokyo, the government had spent Rs 13.13 crore.
The budget has been prepared considering the size of India’s contingent, which will have 195 members. A total of Rs 14 crore has been earmarked for athlete-related activities, including reward money for sportspersons and teams winning medals for the country.
A significant part of the overall budget, comprising Rs 12 crore would be borne by the sports ministry. The airfare (195 persons) alone will cost Rs 3.41 crore, while Rs 2.04 crore (at $50 for 25 days on 195 persons) will be spent on out-of-pocket allowance.
A huge amount — Rs 18.90 crore — will be spent on delegates and IOA’s executive committee (EC) members and headquarters officials. Significantly, the TA/DA paid to EC members will alone cost Rs 8.4 crore. IOA has a 12-member EC, including president PT Usha, senior vice-president Ajay H Patel and treasurer Sahdev Yadav, among others.
Rs 1.2 crore will be spent on EC members’ visits to ceremonies and on their match tickets.
The budget estimate for Paris has led to another round of showdown between Usha and EC members. After Usha shared the Paris budget with the EC members, Yadav wrote a letter demanding convening of an urgent EC meeting.
“As the matter concerns financial approval for Paris Games, it is my humble suggestion to call an EC meeting of IOA to finalise the budget estimates,” Yadav wrote.
It’s been learnt that IOA will also provide a cash grant to athletes and support staff who are part of the Indian contingent. The athletes will receive Rs 2 lakh each and the coaching and support staff Rs 1 lakh each.
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