India's Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports "got a marginal hike" of around Rs 12 crore ($1.9M) in the interim budget for '14-15 presented by Finance Minister P. Chidambaram in Parliament, according to the PTI. In his interim budget presented in the Lok Sabha, Chidambaram allocated Rs 1,093 crore ($176M) as plan outlay while Rs 126 crore ($20M) was set aside for non-plan for a total figure of Rs 1,219 crore ($197M). Out of the total outlay, Rs 631.9 crore ($101M) has been allocated for sports and games -- as compared to Rs 785.31 crore last year -- while Rs 239.74 crore ($39M) "has been set aside" for Youth Welfare Schemes as compared to Rs 296.77 crore. Under the sports and games head, Sports Authority of India "will get the highest amount" of Rs 325.10 crore ($53M) -- a hike of around Rs 5 crore ($800,000) -- while Rs 165 crore ($26M) "has been earmarked" for Assistance to National Sports Federations -- as against Rs 160 crore of last year. Rs 10 crore ($1.6M) "has been earmarked" for talent search and training scheme (PTI, 2/17).
