"Providing financial support to athletes and investing in their training" - Navneet Sehgal, Additional Chief Secretary, Sports, UP at GIS 2023

The Uttar Pradesh Global Investors Summit (UPGIS) 2023 was held in Lucknow between February 10-12, and attracted investors across sectors and countries to India’s most populous state. The nation's sports industry has seen meteoric growth over the past few years and it was not ignored in the GIS 2023 either.

Sportskeeda had an exclusive conversation with Mr. Navneet Sehgal, the Additional Chief Secretary, Sports, UP, who talked about the state's contribution to the sports infrastructure, the impact of public-private partnerships, bringing MotoGP to the state, and much more.

Navneet Sehgal, Additional Chief Secretary, Sports, UP on state government's role in promoting sports, MoUs made at GIS 2023, and future of industry in India

The sports sector in India is reportedly set to rise to about $100 billion by 2027 from $27 billion in 2020. Speaking about what role the state of Uttar Pradesh can play in the growth, Mr. Sehgal said:

“The state government is strengthening grassroots sports by preparing grounds in every gram panchayat, making open gyms, making mini stadiums, making stadiums in every district, and promoting sports colleges, alongside private academies.”

⬆️ Uttar Pradesh’s growth story in the sports sector continues as it marches towards Hon’ble PM @narendramodi dream of making India a sporting power with what can be termed a historic event as we signed MoUs with esteemed organisations today. https://t.co/wGqqCOL9A9

The European Business & Technology Centre will explore the possible opportunities and development of sports to support the sustainability and technological advancements in the state of Uttar Pradesh, which includes both infrastructure as well as softer aspects.

The state government is building Major Dhyan Chand Sports University in Meerut and renovating the Sigra Sports Stadium in Varanasi with an investment of over Rs. 200 crore. Mr. Sehgal said the plans for Gorakhpur Sports City have also been finalized. Speaking about state’s policies on sports, he said:

“The state’s unique ‘One District, One Sports’ initiative will further boost the state's grassroots sports and the sports manufacturing sector. The new sports policy slated to be released soon has great incentives for the PPP model. The state will also be hosting the Khelo India University Games and MotoGP later this year.”

MotoGP will be held for the first time in India at Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida later this year. Dorna Sports, owner of the commercial rights for MotoGP, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Fairstreet Sports to hold the championship in India for seven years.

Speaking on how hosting an international sporting event like the MotoGP can help the state’s economy, Mr. Sehgal said:

“Historically, data with Dorna on the MotoGP races have a proven average economic impact of Rs 1100 crore across the world with some markets outside Europe being bigger than others. For instance, the additional economic turnover for West Nusa Tenggara province of Indonesia where MotoGP was held for the first time in 2022, was about Rs 1700 crore ($ 209 million).”

According to Mr. Sehgal, MotoGP is expected to have a direct impact of about Rs 1100 crore with an additional indirect impact of Rs 3400 crore across industries like automobiles and ancillaries, SMEs, and real estate.

It is committed towards sustainability, and hence from 2024, all races, including those in India, will have 40% ethanol usage and 100% by 2027. Mr Sehgal added:

“Every MotoGP sees an attendance of 22.5% international spectators who travel for every race, the others being domestic. Based on this, we can safely assume more than 20,000 international visitors who will come to the Indian race in September 2023, will need hotels, will also visit nearby cities in UP like Ayodhya, Mathura, and Agra.”

Speaking about the employment opportunities generated by Moto GP, he said:

“There will be more than 5,000 event-based jobs on the race weekend every year, out of which 500 will be of permanent nature. The state of Uttar Pradesh will also benefit from exposure to more than 195 countries where the broadcast of MotoGP beams into more than 150 million homes.”

MotoGP Bharat is also organizing the Race World Championship in BIC Lucknow, which has a proposed investment of 473 crores and will employ 500 people.

Carlos Ezpeleta puts #MotoGP into the spotlight at the Uttar Pradesh Global Investors Summit! 🎯

Dorna Chief Sporting Officier took the stage to discuss the positive impact our sport will have in India! 🙌

#IndianGP 🇮🇳 | 📰

motogp.com/en/news/2023/0…

Speaking about the public-private partnerships that UP is forging and the opportunities presented by the state to investors, Mr. Sehgal said:

“The state is forging successful PPP partnerships in the state as it can bring together the strengths and resources of both the public and private sectors to create a more sustainable and dynamic sports ecosystem.

Giving some examples of such partnerships, he said:

"We have several facilities/stadiums which organisations like TransStadia are interested in. JSW Sports has done the recce of our wrestling facilities and Inspire Institute of Sport has signed an MoU with us recently too.”

Inspire Institute of Sport, a high-performance training centre for athletes founded by the JSW Group, announced at the GIS that it will work on various initiatives with the Department of Sports.

TransStadia signed an MoU with GoUP to takeover stadiums on PPP model.

Our MD Sh Udit Sheth addressed the session on Decoding the #investment potential of the sports sector in #UttarPradesh and its role in the 1$ trillion economy.

UP #sports #infra sector has an opportunity of INR32K cr that will lead to achieving the $1 trillion economy target. https://t.co/c5TUB7pwAh

On the plans of the state government to promote the multi-sport culture, Mr. Sehgal elaborated:

“As a government, we are focused on the development of every sport. We are promoting a multi-sports culture by bringing to the forefront sports like kabaddi, wrestling, and kho-kho. We are creating awareness about different sports and highlighting the achievements of athletes in these sports and organizing more tournaments to increase participation.”

The GIS saw several national and international companies pledging investment commitments in Uttar Pradesh. This was the first time ever that a sports investment session was organized at an Investors Summit in the country, which highlights how important the sector is to the government.

HCL Foundation expressed its intention to work with 5,000 underserved children, youth, and persons with a disability to identify and nurture talent in multiple sports with the vision of mainstreaming them in the existing sports ecosystem of India. The proposed project will be implemented in Lucknow, Gautam Buddha Nagar, and Hardoi districts of Uttar Pradesh.

HCL Foundation entered into formal partnership with Dept of Sports, Govt of UP under which 5,000 (in addition to existing 14,000 athletes) children & youth from underserved sections of society will be mainstreamed into sports such as football, kabaddi, volleyball & athletics. twitter.com/InvestInUp/sta…

Sporta Technologies (Dream Sports) and GoUP have signed an MoU through which they will be working with the government for the development of grassroots sports and elite athletes, and technology and streaming partnerships.

Abhinav Futuristics plans to establish the world-class High-Performance Sports Training & Rehabilitation Centre in UP and also operate it for five years. It will cater to the needs of around 5000 athletes across the state, ranging from grassroots sports to elite levels.

On the subject of grassroots development of sports and players in the state, Mr. Sehgal said:

“We are making an investment in infrastructure and strengthening our grassroots programs that identify and nurture young talent which can help develop a pool of athletes who can compete at the highest levels in different sports. We are also providing financial support to athletes and investing in their training and development to encourage participation and improve performance.”

Rugby India has signed an MoU with the GoUP for the "Get Into Rugby" (Uttar Pradesh Grassroots Development) Program.

The Indian Rugby Football Union (in conjunction with its affiliated state unit - Rugby Football Association of Uttar Pradesh) aims to reach out to three to four target locations within the state. It will conduct training and education orientation workshops/courses, activities and events in schools, local tournaments and competitions, and coaching camps to support the preparation of the state's teams.

Indian Rugby Football Union and the UP Government have joined hands to strengthen the grassroots sports ecosystem within the state. https://t.co/U4hbmqzSa6

The GIS saw a host of respected guests from the sports sector, including legends of the field like Abhinav Bindra, Olympic Gold Medallist and Founder, Abhinav Bindra Targeting Performance, and Suresh Raina, Indian cricketer.

Other guests from the sports industry included Carlos Ezpeleta, Chief Strategy Officer, Dorna Sports (MotoGP), Udit Sheth, Founder, SE TransStadia Limited, Yannick Colaco, Co-Founder, FanCode, Gerald Prabhu, Hon. Secy, and Nasser Hussain, CEO, Rugby India, among others.