Kathmandu, May 29

The government allocated Rs 1.70 billion budget for the fiscal year 2017/18 for sports sector with main focus on international participation of football and cricket teams as well as infrastructure development for cricket.

In the annual estimate of income and expenditure for the coming fiscal year presented by Finance Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara at the Legislature-Parliament, the government has given priority to the construction of Mulpani International Cricket Stadium along with the eight other grounds in various places of the country. Keeping focus on international participation of football and cricket teams, the government announced national tournaments of cricket and football with the help of the corporate sector.

However, the budget is less than the previous fiscal year as the government had allocated Rs 2.8 billion for sports sector. Meanwhile, National Sports Council Member Secretary Keshab Kumar Bista said the budget was the continuity of the previous fiscal year. “We had demanded Rs 4.62 billion as we had a number of new projects on the pipeline, including 13th South Asian Games and eighth National Games,” said Bista.