Towards An Olympic Dream: Parth Jindal On Enhancing Indian Sports

Mr. Parth Jindal, Founder of JSW Sports, shared his insights at an event titled 'An Olympic Dream: Sport in India,’ organised by the JSW Group, Asia Society India Centre, and the Consulate General of France in Mumbai.

He emphasised the importance of a strong public-private partnership for advancing Indian sports. "The reach and funding the government provides are unparalleled, but the private sector adds essential elements like sports science, nutrition, and technology, enhancing the government's efforts," he said.

"Despite this progress, the private sector primarily operates within existing government infrastructure, except for a few notable ventures like the Inspire Institute of Sport. To truly elevate Indian sports, we need at least 10 such centres across the country—ideally one in every state. The government is already encouraging private entities to manage these centres, but more involvement is needed," he added.

Challenges in Indian Sports

Jindal highlighted two main challenges: insufficient private sector participation and persistent issues within sports federations due to political interference. However, he noted that improvements are visible each year. With the Paris Olympics approaching, he expressed optimism about the concentrated and symbiotic collaboration between the government and private sector.

He also pointed out that initiatives like the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), Mission Olympic Cell, and Khelo India have been excellent examples of successful public-private partnerships developed in consultation with the private sector over the past decade.

Inspiring Future Generations

Jindal spoke about how heroes in sports inspire future generations. "From three heroes in 2008 to six in 2012 and two in 2016, our hockey team and six other medallists stood out in Tokyo," he said. He mentioned Neeraj Chopra's achievements as particularly inspiring. "Neeraj Chopra's achievements in javelin have paved the way for future champions," he added.

Discussing Neeraj Chopra’s journey further, Jindal said, "Neeraj Chopra's story is a remarkable testament to talent identification and resilience. We discovered Neeraj in 2015 through our sports excellence program." In 2016, Chopra broke records at the World Junior Championship with an 86.48-meter throw that would have earned him a bronze medal at Rio Olympics.

Overcoming Challenges

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) brought Uwe Hohn as Neeraj's coach to improve his technique. Unfortunately, this led to a dislocated elbow in 2019 after winning gold at the 8 Asian Games. Many feared this injury would end his career with Tokyo Olympics looming in 2020.

The postponement of Tokyo Olympics due to COVID-19 gave Neeraj crucial time to recover. During this period, Indian athletes faced visa issues for overseas training.indal reached out to External Affairs Minister Mr S Jaishankar for urgent visa approvals for Neeraj and wrestler Bajrang Punia.

"The government swiftly responded by granting them visas—Neeraj received a Schengen visa for France while Bajrang went to Russia," Jindal explained. This enabled them to participate in key tournaments leading up to Tokyo Olympics.

"When asked why we prioritised these two athletes," Jindal continued, "my response was rooted in our experience: after nine years in sports development, we believed they were India's best bets to win medals." Both athletes proved him right by winning medals at Tokyo Olympics.

The emergence of heroes like Vijender Singh in boxing or Sakshi Malik in wrestling has ignited dreams and possibilities across various sports disciplines. Each hero inspires others by showing what can be achieved through dedication and hard work.