The Union sports ministry has selected sports facilities in 9 states and Union territories to be upgraded to the Khelo India State Centre of Excellence (KISCE) under the Khelo India scheme.

The states and UTs include Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Tripura and Jammu & Kashmir.

The sports facility in Tripura, which has been selected to be upgraded to KISCE is Dasarath Dev State Sports Complex, Badharghat in Agartala.

Speaking about the decision, Union sports & youth affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said, “The government is taking the two-pronged approach of developing grassroot level infrastructure on the one hand and creating facilities for sporting excellence on the other.”

“The KISCEs will be world-class facilities where the best sporting talent from all over the country will be trained to further India’s Olympic dreams,” he assured.

These centres have made the cut based on their past performances, quality of infrastructure, management & sports culture in the state, etc.

“Earlier this year, the ministry had identified a total of 14 centres to be upgraded to KISCEs. The overall number now stands at 24 KISCEs from 23 states and Union territories,” said a statement issued by the Union ministry of sports and youth affairs.

The assistance to these centres will be provided in the form of bridging the gaps in sports equipment, high performance managers, coaches, sports scientists and technical support.

The sports facilities were selected by each state and Union territory and they were asked to identify the best sports infrastructure available with them or their agencies or any eligible agencies that could be developed into world-class sporting facilities.

The states currently having KISCEs are Assam, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim, Karnataka, Odisha, Kerala, Telengana, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Chandigarh, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Tripura.

The UTs with KISCEs are Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Puducherry, Jammu & Kashmir.