What does it take to build a sporting nation? Above all, it takes a nation that believes in the potential of its people: Ashish Sood

 At KPMG initiative Agrasar Bharat Manch Shri Ashish Sood, Minister of Home, Education, Power, Urban Development, Higher Education, Training & Technical Education, Government of Delhi- NCT’s speech

           

          Ashish Sood

Distinguished members of KPMG leadership, respected representatives of the sports fraternity, industry leaders, policymakers, distinguished guests, my dear young friends, good afternoon all of you.

Let me begin with a simple question: What does it take to build a sporting nation?

Is it a stadium? Is it world-class coaching? Is it a government scheme?

Is it the determination of an athlete standing at the starting line?

The answer is that it takes all of these, but above all, it takes a nation that believes in the potential of its people.

Because every Olympic medal begins long before the athlete steps onto the podium. It begins in the neighborhood playground, it begins in the school corridor, and it begins with a system that tells that child, “Your talent matters, your ambition matters, and your country will stand by you.”

A sporting nation is not built on a day when it wins a medal. It is built every day in the way it discovers, nurtures, and supports its talents.

Agrasar means moving forward. 

And as India moves towards the vision of Viksit Bharat, we must ask ourselves not only how far our economy can grow or how advanced our technology can become, but also how stronger, healthier, more confident, and more capable our people can become.

Sports must be an integral part of that journey.

Under the leadership of Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji, India has been—has India has been articulating its—articulating a clear ambition that we must move beyond being a country of enormous potential and become a country that consistently converts the potential into performance.

And this is where I believe India has an opportunity to make historic leaps.

For a long time, Indian sporting conversation was dominated by familiar questions: Why don’t we win more medals?

It is an important question, but perhaps we must ask even more fundamental one: How many talented children never got the opportunity to become an athlete at the first place?

If we want a larger medal tally, we must first create a larger pool of opportunities.

This requires a complete sporting ecosystem.

First, first, a grassroots infrastructure. A stadium built for international competition is valuable, but so is safe neighborhood around and an accessible community sports facility is.

Second, talent identification.

Third, coaching and sports science.

Fourth, financial and supports is financial and institutional support, and athletes should be able to focus on training and competition without constantly worrying about whether the family can sustain the journey.

Friends, there is another dimension to sports that deserve equal attention. Sports are among the most powerful instruments of social mobility.

When an Indian athlete wins for the country, the tricolor does not belong to one community or one region; it belongs to all of us.

That is the unifying power of sports.

When we ask about sports, we often focus on athletes, met, and medals, but behind every athlete is an entire ecosystem of opportunities.

Sports infrastructure creates demands for construction, engineering, facility management. Professional leagues creates opportunities in broadcasting, media, marketing, and event management, and sports manufacturing can help India strengthen its position in the global market.

A young Indian who may never become a professional athlete can still build a successful career as a coach, referee, physiotherapist, sports administration, entrepreneur, or a data analyst.

This is why the private sector has an important role to play.

The government must provide policy direction, public infrastructure, accessibility, and accountability. Industry can contribute investment, technology, professional management, and innovation. Educational institutions can create pathways for participation and research. Sports federations and associations can strengthen competition and athlete development.

When these institutions work together, sports become more than a social activity; they become an engine of employment, entrepreneurship, and economic growth.

And that is precisely why a platform like Agrasar Bharat Manch matters. It brings public policy, industry expertise, and institutional leadership into in the same into the same conversation.

We must move from asking who is responsible for developing Indian sports to asking how each institution can contribute to the same national objective.

Now let me bring the national vision closer to home, that is Delhi.

Delhi is not merely India’s capital; it is a city of aspiration. Here young people come from every corner and every walk of life and every corner of the country arrive with dreams of education, employment, enterprise, and better future.

And Delhi must be a city where sporting ambitions can flourish alongside other ambitions.

Under the leadership of Shri Narendra Modi Ji and our Chief Minister, our government is committed to build to build to building a Delhi that is more developed and more opportunity-driven.

Our approach, our approach must begin with a simple principle: World-class sporting opportunities should not be limited to those who can afford world-class exits.

A child in a government school should be able to discover the sporting talent. A talented young athlete should have a pathway to professional coaching. A promising player from an indus from an ordinary family should be able to aspire to national and international competitions.

Initiatives such as Chief Minister Khel Protsahan Yojana, programs such as Delhi Khel Mahakumbh helps build a wider culture of participation, competition, and community engagement.

It will not be out of place here to mention Delhi is now one of the is is the state which offers the highest amount of prizes for the players winning in the national and international events.

It offers 7 crores to a player who wins a gold medal in Olympics and 5 crores to a silver medalist and so on in the other games in Asian and Commonwealth National International and National games.

Delhi must become a place where talent is discovered, ambition is encouraged, and achievement is supported.

This brings me to the roles of organizations such as KPMG and a wider corporate sector.

If you want to transform Indian sports, the government cannot alone do it. Nor should we expect individual athletes to carry the burden of systemic changes on their shoulders.

We need partnership built around clear outcomes. Corporate social responsibility, public-private partnership, and institutional collaborations can help mobilize resources, but such partnerships must be designed carefully.

They should have measurable objectives, transparent selection process, and long-term commitments.

Ladies and gentlemen, India is entering a defining period in its development journey.

The vision of Viksit Bharat articulated by our honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi asks us to think beyond incremental progress. It asks us to build institutional institutions, capabilities, and opportunities that will serve generations to come.

Sports can help us achieve all these objectives.

That India is not built by athletes alone, it is built by governments that makes the right investment, businesses that contribute their expertise, institutions that nurture talent, families that encourage ambitions, and citizens who believe in the value of sports.

Our task is to bring all of them together.

I would like to leave you with one thought: a medal is won by an athlete, but a sporting champion is built by a nation.

Let us build a nation together.

Let us make sports an instrument of opportunity, inclusion, and national confidence, and let us ensure that when the next generation generation of Indian dreams of representing the country, it finds no barriers in its path, but the system ready to help it succeed.

That is how we will advance India’s sporting ambition. That is how we will contribute to Viksit Bharat, and that is how we will build a Viksit Delhi that gives every Indian a fair chance to excel.

Thank you, Jai Hind, Jai Bharat, Jai Delhi.