An investigation has revealed that the National Sports Development Fund has financed sports upgrades at a New Delhi residential complex for senior bureaucrats. The fund was created to support elite athletes and promote competitive sports across India. A parliamentary panel had already flagged such diversions last year.
Records obtained under the Right to Information Act show that more than Rs 6.2 crore from the fund went to the New Moti Bagh Residential Complex and the Civil Services Officers’ Institute between 2021 and 2025. The money paid for a temperature-controlled swimming pool, tennis courts, squash facilities and a gymnasium that remain restricted to residents and screened government officers.
The six-member committee that approves grants operates under the Sports Ministry, the same department that oversees the fund. In June 2024 it cleared Rs 2.2 crore specifically for renovation work at the New Moti Bagh complex. A second instalment arrived in 2025-26 even as total contributions to the fund fell to Rs 37.02 crore.
A parliamentary standing committee report tabled in the Lok Sabha in August 2025 warned against the practice. It stated that grants had been given to residential colonies and civil services associations and recommended that this be stopped. Sudhanshu Pandey, president of the New Moti Bagh Residents’ Welfare Association, defended the expenditure as part of overall government welfare for colonies.
