CSR wings for India’s Olympic dreams
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What started as a philanthropic act a decade ago, capital investment in sports as part of Corporate Social Responsibility by the country’s private sector is driving a change. Building infrastructure, funding potential medallists and increasing the participation of women are now serious nation-building activities
Lakshya Sen. | Photo credit: Getty Images
Sarabjot Singh, the second Indian to win a medal at the ongoing Paris Olympics, grew up in Dheen, a village in Ambala district of Haryana. In an expensive sport like shooting, Sarabjot’s family could not have imagined his journey without systemic support, especially the financial aspect.
Regardless of the sport, associated funding in a developing country is always tough to come by. When education, health and sanitation are more pressing concerns, government allocation for sports is often considered a luxury than a necessity.
But in the present-day world where sporting success is considered one of the most important vehicles of national identity and an indicator of soft power, governments are more eager than ever to undertake the tough balancing act between bankrolling sporting activities and taking care of the nation’s prime developmental needs.
It has been no different in India and something that has given governments leeway has been the increasing footprint of finances as part of various companies’ Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) interventions.
The likes of Reliance, Tata, JSW, Infosys and many others have joined hands with various government bodies as well as other private not-for-profit organisations like Olympic Gold Quest (OGQ) and GoSports Foundation to develop infrastructure, improve existing facilities, provide access to sports science, and support athletes in areas where focus has been historically low.
India’s latest shooting sensation Manu Bhaker, Javelin champion Neeraj Chopra, shuttlers P.V. Sindhu, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, Chirag Shetty and Lakshya Sen, boxer Lovlina Borgohain and hurdler Jyothi Yarraji among others have been beneficiaries of such partnerships.
The triggers
This transformation in the funding space has been catalysed by two legislative moves. Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013, mandated CSR projects by every company having net worth of ₹500 crore or more, or turnover of ₹1000 crore or more, or a net profit of ₹5 crore or more. Under Schedule VII of this act, “training to promote rural, nationally recognised sports, Paralympic and Olympic sports” was added as a CSR-eligible activity.
Manu Bhaker and Sarabjot Singh . | Photo credit: Getty Images
Then, in 2016, the scope was widened by including the “creation and maintenance of sports infrastructure, upgradation and renovation of existing sports facilities, and sports science support including setting up of gymnasiums and rehabilitation centres.” The Odisha Reliance Foundation Athletics High Performance Centre, JSW’s Inspire Institute of Sports and Infosys Foundation’s investment in Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy (PPBA) are examples of this.
“The CSR Act (2013) is a big motivator,” Prof. Sanjeev Tripathi from the Indian Institute of Management (Indore) told The Hindu. “Now that firms have to spend 2% of their net profits on CSR, they are looking for opportunities to spend. The other factor is the visibility and impact of the investment. Compared to healthcare and education, the investment in sports, especially if they result in medals, is celebrated and has a halo effect on the corporates from the perspective of national glory. Further, the returns on sports investments seem to have a lower gestation period than investment in other avenues.”
Sport, being a sunrise sector, had initial investments that were experimental in nature. However, with every Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and Olympics, the positive impact (i.e., medal tally) has encouraged an increase in investment. “What we are witnessing is the bandwagon effect. The success achieved by some corporates has encouraged others to follow,” added Prof. Tripathi.
Upward trajectory
Numbers back this hypothesis. According to a report prepared in April 2023 jointly by PACTA, a firm focusing exclusively on the legal needs of the social sector, and Sports and Society Accelerator, an independent not-for-profit organisation focused on building the sports ecosystem, CSR in sports has grown consistently.
In 2014-15, investments worth ₹58 crore were made and in 2020-21 it stood at ₹242 crore, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 27%. This matched the growth of all activities under CSR, which rose from ₹6043 crore in 2014-15 to ₹25,715 crore in 2020-21, again at a CAGR of 27%.
P.V. Sindhu. | Photo credit: AP
These outlays have been roughly through three types of models. First is the Public-Private-Partnership model like the one that the Odisha government has stitched with Reliance Foundation to create a Athletics High Performance Centre. The second is where the corporate houses manage everything, like how the Tata Group has done with the Tata Football Academy and Tata Archery Academy in Jamshedpur.
And in the third, firms like OGQ and GoSports act like bridges between corporates and the sporting world. Through fund-raising, these non-profit sports organisations receive grants from corporate and individual donors, and manage the program design and execution.
As a result, there have been improvements for all to see. Training areas are worldclass and impeccably maintained. There are resources for exposure trips, and top coaches, physiotherapists and nutrition experts are being hired.
The PPBA, which is nestled amidst the sprawling Padukone-Dravid Centre for Sports Excellence on the outskirts of Bengaluru and the place where Lakshya — and now Sindhu — train, is a case in point. With help from Infosys Foundation and OGQ, a teenaged Lakshya trained under the legendary Morten Frost, winner of four All England titles, and the Dane was even hired as a consultant coach at PPBA.
“We could send Lakshya to Denmark for three months and there he made a mark and started winning. That gave him the confidence,” said Vimal Kumar, former National champion and Lakshya’s long-time mentor and coach.
Enlarging the pool
There has also been a significant change in the narrative involving women sportspersons and differently abled athletes. The collaboration between Infosys Foundation and GoSports to help fund a weightlifting academy is the best illustration of this.
Sathish Sivalingam, a gold medallist at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games, wanted to open the doors to talented girls at his academy in Vellore district (Tamil Nadu). Sathish, who was once helped by a GoSports program, sounded out the idea to Deepthi Bopaiah, CEO of GoSports.
“When my team visited the weightlifting academy, it was pretty much just bricks and a basic setup that they had,” recalled Bopaiah. “They didn’t have a nutritionist, a physio, or anything. Yet, talented girls were attempting to get to the district-level competition.”
Approximately 200km west of Vellore, at the Infosys offices in Bengaluru, projects were being shortlisted for meeting the organisation’s mission of empowering women. While GoSports had worked with Infosys Foundation on a different project, Satish’s new proposal was unique. The trainees included only girls and women.
A scenario emerged wherein all three stakeholders — the sponsor, the implementation partner, and the beneficiary, had the same objectives in mind. “In the past, GoSports worked with athletes directly,” said Nandan Kamath, Co-Founder and Managing Trustee, GoSports.
“Now, with the partnership, it became a real opportunity to build an athlete-centric, coach-led, academy-driven model that allows us to take a systemic approach to developing sports talent with a long-term view.”
Thus, in May 2023, the ‘Girls for Gold’ program was launched to identify and support talented Indian women athletes aged 13 to 19. A grant of ₹30 crore was dedicated to provide a support system for athletes and coaches from five academies — Lakshya Shooting Club, Mary Kom Regional Boxing Foundation, Sathish Sivalingam Weightlifting Foundation, Raman TT High-Performance Centre, and Yadav Pro Badminton Academy.
Viren Rasquinha, former India hockey captain, has witnessed both sides, earlier as an athlete and now as Director and CEO of OGQ. “CSR in sports has been a massive boon,” he said. “When I was a player, if you got injured or fell sick, you’re out of the team. We did not have any idea about the right nutrition, strength and conditioning, and recovery. Everything was via self-learning. All these things have massively improved.”
What initially started as support for existing athletes has now expanded into identification of sporting talent at junior levels.
“We [OGQ] started supporting Sindhu when she was 13, and Lakshya when he was 11,” Rasquinha pointed out. “It’s been a 12-year journey with Lakshya just to reach the Olympics. Today, we support over 400 athletes, and 150 of those are in the age-group of 11 to 19. These are going to be the future Sindhus, Lakshyas and Mary Koms.”
Half-full, half-empty
However, it is also true that CSR in sports remains a small piece in the overall pie. Cumulative figures from 2014-15 to 2020-21 show that sports still accounts for just 1% of the total spends; health and education are 21% and 31% respectively.
Even among the corporates who spend, it is not more than 5% of their overall commitment. In 2020-21, Reliance alone contributed nearly thrice as much as the next best company. CSR in sports is also highly concentrated in just a few states like Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Delhi and Jharkhand, with the top-five states in this list accounting for 37% of the entire amount.
Another cautionary note, as Rasquinha pointed out, is the thin line that exists between CSR and marketing. This is perhaps why the Companies Act specifically excluded one-off events like marathons, awards, charitable contributions and advertisements from the CSR ambit.
Nevertheless, the private sector has played a noteworthy role in India’s ongoing sporting transformation. In the early days of CSR donations, regulatory compliance and tax breaks were the tangible benefits. As time passed, sports offered much more. What started as a philanthropic act has now led to branding, employee engagement, and an overall sense of nation-building.
“We are in this for the long term,” a Reliance Foundation spokesperson said. “We have been working towards developing India as a multi-sport nation, including leading its Olympic movement. India’s sporting journey is at an inflection point, but there is still a long way to go.”
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