'Grant industry status to sports to spur private investments'

NEW DELHI: Recognising sports as an industry is the key to its development in the country as it will spur private investments by corporate players, says a CII-KPMG report.

"The proposed National Sports Development Bill 2013 is aimed at transforming the sports eco-system in the country by enlisting the support from various stakeholders.

"The government has initiated interface with the International Olympics Committee (IOC) and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) in this regard to bring them on board and to take their inputs while formulating the bill," Secretary in the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports Ajit M Sharan said in a release.

The report states that resource scarcity in India makes it difficult for the government to attain the vision of excellence in sports and calls for collaborative efforts of both the government and the private sector towards strengthening the sports ecosystem in the country.

"There is need for channelising more funds for creating sports infrastructure, training of potential sports-persons and in engaging world class coaches," Sharan said.

"Granting industry status to sports would help broad-base sports in India, and promote excellence in the field through infrastructure development, providing technical support to athletes and help groom talented sports-persons," Group President (Asia) of the Coca Cola Company said.

The report said long term sustainability of commercial ventures in the Indian sports sector would require sustained audience interest, driven by the country's winning performances at international sporting events.

The sports sector is seen to have a significant socio-economic impact worldwide, contributing one to five per cent of national GDP, according to the report's findings.

"Corporate funding in sports may be the answer to ignite sports development in India. The gestation period for realising return on such investments may be long, but global experience shows us that it could be potentially rewarding," Partner of KPMG in India Jaideep Ghosh said.

The global sports industry is estimated to be worth about $ 600 billion.