According to ministry, the Games cost merely Rs 308 crore, in comparison to Rs 2,342 crore spent on conducting the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Furthermore, even National Games held last year in Kerala cost more than Rs 400 crore.
Despite a huge amount of Rs 67 crores spent on mere security of the 4,000-plus athletes and support staff during the recently concluded South Asian Games (SAG), the sports ministry has claimed that Games turned out to be the most economical multi-sports events conducted in the country till date.
According to ministry, the Games cost merely Rs 308 crore, in comparison to Rs 2,342 crore spent on conducting the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Furthermore, even National Games held last year in Kerala cost more than Rs 400 crore.
The most interesting part of the Games were that only Rs 10 crore were spent on conducting opening ceremony attended by prime minister Narendra Modi. For the record, Rs 600 crore was spent for the opening ceremony of the CWG itself.
As per ministry figures, only Rs 133 crore was spent on SAG conduct and infrastructure. Whereas, the cost of Rs 67 crore on security arrangements were borne by Ministry of Home Affairs. The cost of Rs 72 crore incurred upon building a 10km cycling track in Guwahati were taken care by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). The local governments of Assam and Meghalaya took care of the remaining Rs 36 crore incurred on providing various other facilities to the athletes.
"The Games were organised at a short notice of three months but we still managed to keep the budget low. We can certainly call it one of the most economical games ever conducted," informed sports secretary Rajeev Yadav.
"The government will felicitate the medal winners. The gold medallists will get Rs 3 lakh, and the silver and the bronze medallists will receive Rs 2 lakh and Rs 1 lakh, respectively," he added.
Yadav also informed that the government is planning on commissioning a study by the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A) on the conduct of the Games to see what could have been done better and make a sort of template for the multi-sports events to be held in the future.
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