Sarbananda Sonowal, the Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs & Sports, has said that the Sports Goods Export Promotion Council (SGEPC) has informed that most of the manufacturers of sports equipment are in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Sector and operate with minimum Technology.
There are no big factories in India for manufacturing of sports equipment. Most of manufacturing process depends on the manual labour. Major sports equipment made in India are inflatable balls, Cricket equipment, boxing equipment, track and field equipment, table Tennis, Badminton, carom board etc. Most of sports equipment, which require technology like composite rackets, golf clubs, hiking equipment, water sports equipment etc. are not made in India.
The demand in India for these equipments is met through imports. There is definitely a need to introduce technology to produce cost effective sports equipment especially for above mentioned items.
The Minister has also said that Sports is a State subject and, therefore, it is primarily the responsibility of the State Governments to promote sports and create adequate sports Infrastructure. The Central Government complements /supplements the efforts of the State Governments.
For promotion of sports, the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports was implementing Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan (RGKA) Scheme, Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme (USIS) and National Sports Talent Search Scheme (NSTSS) which have since been merged into a Central Sector Scheme known as “Khelo”, Minister said.
