CHENNAI: India are hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2030 and are hoping to successfully bid for the Olympics in 2036, but when it comes to its sporting ecosystem, it seems to be an area of concern. Dearth of coaches has been afflicting the Sports Authority of India (SAI) for quite some time and instead of getting better it is getting worse.
The SAI has been on an expanding spree building new National Centres of Excellence but there have been disciplines that lack good coaches. The latest figures seems to even more alarming. According to a Lok Sabha reply during the 2026 budget session, the numbers have declined further. The total number on July 23 last year was 860 across all levels and that number decreased to 788. That means in the last six months despite SAI’s best efforts, vacancies could not be filled. According to the latest figures, there is at least 48 per cent shortage of coaches in the entire set-up. The per cent in July last year was 45.
What makes it even more troubling is that SAI is country’s flagship department under the sports ministry to promote sports excellence in the country. It also helps National Sports Federations (NSFs) with their annual planning and budget that includes training and exposure. It is also instrumental in identifying and training talent through its various programmes aimed at the grassroots level including the Khelo India schemes.
When it comes to High Performance Coaches (HPCs) the number has declined by fifty per cent. The July 2025 figures shared during question hour said that there were 15 HPC but now there are only eight working with SAI. Not just HPC, there is shortage in every level. This was revealed in reply to a question in the Lok Sabha posed by Pushpendra Saroj and Priya Saroj of the Samajwadi Party on number of coaches at various SAI centres across the country.
In reply, sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that there are a total of 788 coaches, comprising 387 regular coaches and 401 coaches on contract or deputation. They are part of the coaching system in National Centres of Excellence (NCOEs), SAI Training Centers (STCs) and Extension Centres of STC.
What is even more shocking is that when it comes to HPC, there are about 50 sanctioned posts and only eight have been filled. When it comes to assistant coaches, there has been a decrease as well. Last year there were 406 assistant coaches and it is only 307, which is 99 less and almost 60 per cent less than sanctioned number of 774. When it comes to coaches, the script is similar. There were 321 of them last year (July) and that number has declined to 306. There is good news when it comes to senior coaches — the number has increased to 115 from 71. And chief coaches’ number is now 51 up from 47.
The sports minister told the house that “323 posts in the grade of Assistant Coach have been notified for recruitment through the Direct Recruitment mode.” Even last year the SAI had advertised to fill in vacant posts but they have not been filled much.
This come a couple of days after the Spots Ministry got a rather quiet budget for 2026-27 especially during Asian and Commonwealth Games year. Instead of raising the budget, it has kept it more or less at the same level like last year.
Naranpura NCOE
With Naranpura, Gujarat has two NCOEs and this could be one of the latest centres. The answer said that Naranpura has 82 trainees. The SAI had in its general body meeting had proposed the formation of this new centre and was on the agenda "Under the visionary Khelo India Scheme, a collaborative effort between the Government of India's Department of Sports, Youth & Cultural Affairs, and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation is giving rise to an Olympic Level stadium in Naranpura, Ahmedabad. This NCOE will function as Extension of NCOE Gandhinagar," said the agenda. Another NCOE that is being proposed at Varanasi. Both centres had received funds under the Khelo India Scheme. Naranpura got Rs 583.99 crore while Sigra in Varanasi Rs 315.38 crore.
Interestingly, Cooch Behar NCOE doesn't have even have one trainee. The foundation stone was laid by the last minister of state for sports and youth affairs Nisith Pramanik and minister of state for Railways Darshana Jardosh in May last year. There is a likelihood that the centre might not even start functioning.
