14-Sep-2022: Power PSUs Sign Historic MoU with National Sports Development Fund

In a historic event , NTPC and REC Ltd, two major PSUs under Ministry of Power signed  Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today with National Sports Development Funds (NSDF) and Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) with National Sports Development Fund. MoUs were signed in the presence of Shri R.K Singh, Union Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy and Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Union Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports and Information and Broadcasting were present during the historic MoU signing ceremony. Shri Gurdeep Singh, CMD NTPC, Shri Vivek Kumar Devangan, CMD REC, Director General Sports Authority of India, various eminent athletes and senior officials were present on the occasion.

Shri R.K Singh congratulated both PSUs for their humongous efforts in promoting sports in India by committing Rs. 215 Crores. Rs 115 crores commitment is for 5 years by NTPC towards Archery and Rs 100 Crores commitment is by REC for 3 years towards Women's hockey, Boxing and athletics.

Shri Singh highlighted that Sports is an integral part of character building and nation building. He stated that  for development of the country, sports have to be promoted as many other developed countries have been doing. He reiterated the call by Hon’ble Prime Minister for promotion of sports in the country and shared that there is a huge increase in the number of medals being won by India in different sports in various international events including Olympics. Shri Singh added that we have to encourage and support the talent in sports, increase the number of coaches and develop world-class facilities.

Power Minister further expressed that many other Power PSUs would also come forward to financially support various other sports. He urged  Power PSUs to come forward in providing employment not just to successful athletes but also to other athletes who need support. He concluded by wishing all the athletes for upcoming Olympics to win big and make the country proud.

Speaking on the occasion Shri Anurag Thakur said that two PSUs from the Power Ministry have contributed a total of Rs 215 crore for the development of sports , making it an historic occasion. This contribution by the Power Ministry will  go a long way to energise the sports sector, he said. "Everyone, from the corporates to individuals and from various institutions to States, should work together as a team. This MoU signing will give a big motivation to our athletes .”, Shri Thakur added. "Earlier, I had urged online donations at NSDF, to adopt an athlete, a sport and an academy. Now, both NTPC and REC have adopted both sports and athletes. This has all happened because of the vision of the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi. There are many PSUs but the ones who come forward help in building soft power of India, help athletes keep away from  addiction and also motivate them to perform higher at the international stage," added Shri Thakur.

REC has initiated assistance for “Broad basing of Sports and promotion of excellence in sports in India” to be implemented by National Sports Development Fund (NSDF), under Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports with an aim to promote sports in general and specific sports disciplines and individual sportspersons in particular for achieving excellence at the national and international level.

REC has allocated Rs 100 crore to be spent in three years as an Amount of Assistance for its CSR initiative. The fund will be utilized for activities and work permissible for expenditure as a support to Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) athletes, support for coaches and other support staff and also for any other projects, programmes or events for broad basing of sports and promotion of excellence in sports in India. The fund will also be utilized for the promotion of Boxing, Women Hockey and Athletics to be targeted and any other sports, as may be mutually agreed by REC and NSDF.

NTPC has been supporting the Archery sport in partnership with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Archery Association of India (AAI) with an aim to provide world class facilities with international exposure & platform to the talented pool of Archers of India.

Under its CSR initiative, NTPC has committed Rs. 115 Crore in 5 years for development of Archery Sports. Out of total 115 Crore, Rs. 15 crore will be incurred as a one-time expenditure towards preparations of field targets, setting up of training centres and equipment like bow & arrow. Further, remaining Rs. 100 crore will be incurred as recurring expenditure in 5 years (Rs. 20 crore per year) towards the development of Archery from the grassroot level, training of identified talents, training of elite talents, development of high-performing coaches, procurement of FOP equipment, development sports & science lab compatible for Archery, Scholarships/ prize money for high performers, advance training/ competitive exposure/ foreign training & exposure to Sub-Jr./ Jr. Archers of Recurve and Compound Archers including Para Archers, etc.

14-Sep-2022: National Sports Development Fund inks historic MOU with NTPC and REC of financial support of Rs 215 Crores for development of sports in India

In the presence of Union Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports Sh. Anurag Singh Thakur and Union Minister of Power and New and Renewable Energy Sh. RK Singh, the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) of Department of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports  signed an historic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with two Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) with NTPC (National Thermal Power Corporation) Foundation and REC (Rural Electrification Corporation) Foundation today in New Delhi for development of sports in India. 

The financial support to be given by NTPC is Rs 115 Crores over the next 5 years and they will be supporting Archery discipline in India. REC Foundation has also committed an amount of Rs 100 Crores over 3 years to support Women’s Hockey, Athletics and Boxing. The support towards NSDF has come through their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) mandate.

CMD of REC Vivek Kumar Dewangan and CMD NTPC Gurdeep Singh, DG SAI Sh. Sandip Pradhan, as well as athletes and coaches from Archery, Boxing, Hockey and Athletics disciplines, including Abhishek Verma (Compound Archery), Savita Punia (Women's Hockey), Amit Panghal (Men's Boxing) and Avinash Sable (Men's 3000m Steeplechase) were also present on this occasion.

Speaking on the occasion Shri Anurag Thakur said that two PSUs from the Power Ministry have contributed a total of Rs 215 crore for the development of sports , making it an historic occasion. This contribution by the Power Ministry will  go a long way to energise the sports sector, he said. "Everyone, from the corporates to individuals and from various institutions to States, should work together as a team. This MoU signing will give a big motivation to our athletes .”, Shri Thakur added.

"Earlier, I had urged online donations at NSDF, to adopt an athlete, a sport and an academy. Now, both NTPC and REC have adopted both sports and athletes. This has all happened because of the vision of the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi. There are many PSUs but the ones who come forward help in building soft power of India, help athletes keep away from  addiction and also motivate them to perform higher at the international stage," added Shri Thakur.

The support from NTPC and REC Foundation will cover the following: Grassroots development of the sports, training of identified talent, training of elite talent, coach development, sports science support, advance training and more.

Elaborating on the MoU signed, Shri RK Singh mentioned, "We from the Power Ministry are extremely happy  to have done something for the further development of sports in India, through NTPC and REC. We have adopted just a few sports disciplines today but going forward, we want to adopt more disciplines and continue in the development of more facilities and coaches. We promise that our Ministry will be associated in doing all possible in further development of sports in the country. Creating sports culture in the country is part of Nation building. "

The National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) was established in 1998 under the Charitable Endowments Act 1890 and was notified by the Government of India in November, 1998. The purpose of the fund is to impart momentum and flexibility to assisting the cause of sports in India. It helps sportspersons  excel by providing them with varied opportunities to train under coaches of international repute, provide financial assistance for development of infrastructure and other activities for promotion of sports.

29-Feb-2020: Under CSR initiative, SPMCIL contributes Rs 1 crore towards National Sports Development Fund

Under the CSR initiatives of the Company, Security Printing & Minting Corporation of India (SPMCIL) contributed a sum of Rs 1 Crore towards National Sports Development Fund under the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) for the top athletes of our Country selected for Tokyo  Olympics and beyond. The cheque of Rs 1 Crore was handed over to Shri Kiren  Rijiju, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Youth Affairs &  Sports on 27.02.2020 by Ms. Tripti Patra Ghosh, Chairman and Managing  Director, SPMCIL and Shri S.K. Sinha, Director (HR), SPMCIL. Shri Inder  Dhamija, Joint Secretary (Sports) and Shri B.J. Gupta, General Manager (HR),  SPMCIL were also present.

20-Mar-2018: Contribution of Rs. 10 crores by India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL) to National Sports Development Fund (NSDF)

India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL) has made contribution of Rs 10.00 Crore to the NSDF. This is the third installment of contribution made by the IIFCL making the total contribution Rs 30.00 Crore.

The IIFCL contribution is being utilized for promotion of sports in the disciplines Badminton, Archery and Para Sports by way of support to sportspersons in these disciplines for their customized training and other services and setting up of Academies/Support to Academies in these disciplines.

National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) was established with the objective of promotion of excellence in sports through support to top level sportspersons who are medal prospects in Olympics and other major international competitions and creation of sports infrastructure in priority disciplines etc.  The Fund accepts contributions from private/public corporate sectors, other legal bodies like Trusts/Societies, individuals etc.

The Fund has made significant contribution for promotion of sports by way of financial assistance to top level sportspersons for their customized training, purchase of equipment and participation in international competitions.  The Fund also has extended support to a few renowned Sports Academies/Institutes (which provide facilities for training of potential young sportspersons) for development of sports infrastructure.