The Rise of Tier-2 India: Why Our Sporting Future Lies Beyond the Metros
- Anurag Banerjee
- May 4
- 6 min read
India’s sporting future depends on unlocking talent from Tier-2 and Tier-3 regions, where passion runs deep but access to high-performance infrastructure is limited. In this article, Anurag Banerjee, Associate Director- Consumer Insights at JioStar, highlights the structural imbalance favoring metro cities and argues for more inclusive investment to support athletes from underserved areas.
Anurag is an alumnus of the 6th edition of the HIgh Performance Leadership Program curated by Dani Sports Foundation in association with the Abhinav Bindra Foundation.
India’s sporting aspirations have never been higher. Olympic medals, world championship titles, and a growing pool of talented athletes signal that we are inching closer to becoming a global sporting powerhouse. Yet, behind this momentum lies a structural bottleneck: the over-centralization of high-performance sports infrastructure.
For decades, cities like Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Pune have dominated the high-performance landscape. These metros house top-tier coaching setups, advanced sports science labs, and access to physiotherapy, nutrition, and competitive exposure. While these cities have nurtured many champions, they only scratch the surface of India’s real talent base.
The truth is unmistakable: the majority of India’s athletic talent comes from Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns, from villages and districts where sporting passion runs deep but resources remain scarce. These athletes often travel great distances for trials, wait endlessly for residential camps, or drop out altogether due to the lack of structured support.
For every Mirabai Chanu from Imphal or Neeraj Chopra from Panipat who breaks through, countless others fade away—not from lack of talent, but from lack of access.
The Talent Reservoir Beyond the Metros
India’s Olympic rosters reveal a consistent pattern. At Tokyo 2020, Haryana and Punjab accounted for nearly 40% of India’s contingent, despite comprising only 4.4% of the national population. Ahead of Paris 2024, they made up 37% of the Olympic-bound squad.
From Haryana’s akharas producing wrestlers and boxers, to Jharkhand’s tribal archers, from Punjab’s hockey stalwarts to Manipur’s Olympians—India’s rural and small-town belt has delivered consistently. Odisha’s Sundargarh district alone has produced more than 100 international hockey players.
This trend isn’t new. P.T. Usha (Kerala), Sakshi Malik (Haryana), and Vijender Singh (Bhiwani) all rose from interior India. The message is clear: India’s true high-performance reservoir lies beyond the metros.
Why Tier-2 HPCs Make Strategic and Economic Sense
To unlock this potential, India must decentralize its infrastructure. Here’s why Tier-2 cities are ideal:
1. Lower Costs, Higher Returns – Real estate, staffing, and operational expenses are significantly lower. Bellary’s Inspire Institute of Sport is a testament to cost-effective excellence.
2. Stronger Athlete Retention – Less migration stress means stronger community bonds and long-term development.
3. Proximity to Talent Clusters – Locating HPCs near known hubs (e.g. wrestling in Haryana) ensures a stronger pipeline.
4. Better Living Conditions – Smaller towns offer cleaner air, fewer distractions, and lower living costs—conducive to focused training.
Ecosystems Already Taking Root
The foundation is already being laid in many Tier-2 regions:
Infrastructure: SAI regional centers in Patiala, Lucknow, and Imphal; Odisha’s 21 new astro-turf projects.
Education: Sports-linked schools and colleges offering dual-career opportunities.
Community: Local competitions, mentorship networks, and inspirational champions fueling participation.
The Bottlenecks Holding Us Back
Despite this progress, several persistent challenges remain:
1. Chronic Underfunding – India’s sports budget remains among the lowest globally—just ₹25 per capita.
2. Delayed Fund Disbursement – Projects like those in Mandya and Coimbatore are halted for months due to payment delays.
3. Uneven Resource Allocation – Wide discrepancies in Khelo India grants: Gujarat received ₹600 crore for five projects, Tamil Nadu just ₹29.5 crore over seven years.
4. Audit Red Flags – CAG reports highlight mismanaged, delayed, or substandard infrastructure across states.
5. Non-Utilization of Funds – Chandigarh returned ₹77 lakh due to inactivity on a sanctioned Khelo India Centre.
6. Poor Project Planning – Infrastructure like the Aurangabad Olympic pool remains unused due to location and design flaws.
7. No Operational Continuity – Without clarity on post-construction responsibility, facilities quickly deteriorate.
Global Models India Can Learn From
Several leading nations have successfully decentralized their sports ecosystems. India can take inspiration from their approaches and adapt practical steps suited to its own diverse sporting context:
Australia – Australia's decentralized model is anchored by state-based high-performance centres that are linked to a national framework through the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).
What India Can Do:
○ Establish zonal HPCs with regional specialization (e.g. endurance in Himachal, combat sports in Haryana).
○ Create a central governing body that standardizes curriculum, data tracking, and talent transition protocols.
○ Develop “National Coaching Clusters” to bring together regional coaches for workshops and shared knowledge.
China – With a tiered structure, China’s provincial sports schools nurture athletes locally before graduating them to national centers, maintaining strong community ties and reducing early burnout.
What India Can Do:
○ Strengthen state-level academies to become feeder systems.
○ Integrate sport within local school curriculums and incentivize athletes to stay local till a certain age.
○ Provide performance-linked scholarships for athletes in Tier-2 academies.
Germany – Germany has over 18 Olympic Training Centres embedded in small cities and university towns, combining sport and academics.
What India Can Do:
○ Embed HPCs within higher education institutions in Tier-2 cities.
○ Offer dual-career pathways to athletes — allowing them to pursue degrees while training full time.
○ Create dedicated partnerships with universities for research, sports analytics, and rehab support.
Kenya – Small towns like Iten and Eldoret are world-renowned for distance running. They use environmental advantages like altitude, along with strong grassroots coaching.
What India Can Do:
○ Identify terrain-specific zones (e.g. Leh for altitude training, Wayanad for year-round climate) for endurance sports.
○ Focus on long-term coach development programs in rural centres.
○ Retain and support veteran coaches from successful local clusters.
Netherlands – The Dutch model revolves around CTOs (Centres for Top Sport and Education) that blend elite sport, school education, mental well-being, and skill development.
What India Can Do:
○ Develop integrated HPC campuses that include not only sports but education, nutrition, psychology, and life skills.
○ Create centralized digital athlete profiles that support personal development across domains.
○ Emphasize holistic development to prepare athletes for life after sport.
These global models are not blueprints to be copied but frameworks to be contextualized. If India adapts the right elements with regional relevance, we can leapfrog structural gaps and foster a wider, deeper high-performance base.
India’s Action Plan: The Way Forward
To replicate global best practices and respond to local challenges, India’s strategy must be deliberate, phased, and performance-focused:
1. Build Human Capital
Establish sports science and athlete development colleges in key Tier-2 hubs. These institutes should offer degrees and certification in strength and conditioning, biomechanics, physiotherapy, sports psychology, and performance analysis. Incentivize graduates to serve in their regions through fellowships and public-private placements.
2. Reform Coaching Paradigms
Revamp the national coaching curriculum to include athlete-first principles, psychological safety, injury prevention, and data-driven feedback. Introduce digital coaching networks to connect Tier-2 coaches with elite mentors, global best practices, and peer learning forums.
3. Shift from Infrastructure to Ecosystem Thinking
Rather than building standalone facilities, design performance ecosystems. This includes integrating training, education, recovery, diet, and life skills under one roof. Set up interdisciplinary performance cells with defined KPIs tied to athlete progression.
4. Establish Athlete Tracking & Analytics Systems
Develop a centralized, secure, and athlete-centric performance database. Use this to monitor training loads, injury patterns, nutrition, sleep, competition exposure, and transitions across state, zonal, and national levels. Data must be accessible to coaches, athletes, and administrators alike.
5. Create Pathways, Not Just Platforms
Structure clear development pathways—beginning from grassroots identification through Khelo India games, zonal leagues, state excellence centers, and finally national camps. Each step should have benchmarks, psychological support, and academic flexibility.
6. Prioritize Mental Well-being & Life Skills
Make mental health professionals, nutritionists, and life coaches part of every HPC. Introduce life skills training on media, financial literacy, public speaking, and digital safety to equip athletes for holistic success.
7. Encourage State-Level Innovation
Offer grants to states for piloting new models in high-performance training. Recognize and scale best practices through national awards, documentation, and mentorship networks.
This layered, accountable, and athlete-centric plan can unlock a generation of champions from regions long overlooked.
A Vision for Tier-2 Excellence
Picture this: a 13-year-old archer from Jabalpur trains at a local HPC equipped with video analysis and mental conditioning. Her coach participates in weekly national learning modules. She earns her way through zonal events, balances academics nearby, and joins the national team—without ever having to leave her hometown.
This is not a dream. It’s a blueprint.
Conclusion: From Gatekeepers to Enablers
India’s metros will remain important, but they cannot shoulder the future alone. Our next champions are training today—on dusty fields, in village akharas, on uneven tracks, away from the spotlight.
We must go to them. Build where the talent lives. Deliver where the hunger is greatest.
Let’s make excellence local. Because India’s sporting future doesn’t lie in its skylines. It lies in its heartlands.
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Sources & References:
1. Olympic Channel – https://www.olympicchannel.com
2. Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) – https://www.ais.gov.au
3. Khelo India – https://kheloindia.gov.in
4. Sports Authority of India – https://sportsauthorityofindia.gov.in
5. FICCI-EY M&E Report 2024 – Searchable via https://www.ficci.in
6. Olympic medal data and state contributions – Reports from The Hindu, Times of India, The Goan
7. CAG Audit Reports on Sports Infrastructure – Government of India Archives 8. BBC Sport and The Guardian: Coverage of British Cycling’s High Performance Model 9. Dutch CTOs (Centre for Top Sport and Education) – https://www.teamnl.org 10. JSW’s Inspire Institute of Sport – https://www.inspireinstituteofsport.com
11. Tata Archery Academy –
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