Gandhinagar: Gujarat has been investing heavily in building a sporting ecosystem and nurturing talent as it aims to host the 2036 edition of the Olympic Games. However, its footprint in the Sports Authority of India (SAI) network remains strikingly thin. Of the 181 SAI centres listed across the country for 2026-27, Gujarat accounts for just two — both National Centres of Excellence (NCOEs), according to information provided by the Union govt in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.Gandhinagar’s complement of 30 coaches is also the lowest among the 14 locations for which staffing figures were provided.Centre’s data brings out the stark contrast between Gujarat and other states. Rajasthan has 20 SAI centres, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh 16 each, Delhi 13, Assam 11, while Haryana and Madhya Pradesh have 10 each. Punjab has nine, and Kerala and Odisha eight each. Gujarat, with just two centres, accounts for only about 1.1% of the country’s SAI network.Gujarat’s entire SAI presence comprises the two NCOEs at Gandhinagar and Naranpura. The state has no SAI Training Centre (STC), extension centre, regional school, or akhada listed in the network.In contrast, states such as Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have a much broader mix of SAI facilities, giving them greater geographical spread and reach. According to sources at SAI Gandhinagar, only one of the four blocks of the Veer Savarkar Sports Complex has been allotted to SAI.The coaching numbers reveal an even sharper gap. Gandhinagar has 30 SAI coaches — the lowest among the 14 locations for which coach strength has been listed in the reply in Parliament. Sonipat and Patiala have 87 coaches each, followed by Kolkata with 78 and Bangalore and Delhi with 75 each. Guwahati has 64 coaches, while Imphal has 50. The 30 coaches at SAI Gandhinagar account for only about 4% of the 747 coaches listed for the 14 locations.The disparity is particularly noteworthy against Gujarat’s growing sporting ambitions. The state has sought to use mass-participation programmes and athlete-support initiatives to build a pipeline of sporting talent. But the SAI data suggests that expanding the institutional pathway between talent identification and elite training could be a key challenge.
