Government spent Rs 65 crore on Indian men's hockey teams in last five years

New Delhi: The government on Thursday said that it has spent over Rs 65 crore on Indian men's hockey teams in the last five years apart from shelling out close to Rs 104 crore on 20 infrastructure projects related to the game.

The government said the money was utilised for coaching camps, competitions and other expenses.

"An amount of Rs. 45.05 crore has been spent on senior hockey men's team and Rs. 20.23 crore on junior hockey men's team towards coaching camps, foreign competitions, domestic competitions, salary of coaches, equipment etc., during the last five years, i.E., 2016-17 to 2020-21," Sports Minister Anurag Thakur's written reply in the Rajya Sabha read.

"Further, 20 infrastructure projects worth Rs. 103.98 crore for hockey have been sanctioned under Khelo India Scheme since 2016-17."

The senior men's hockey team returned with a historic bronze medal from the Tokyo Olympics.