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How high priced are India's Busan medals?

V Krishnaswamy in Busan

It is a sporting jamboree that has brought together the continent's top sportspersons. And the Indian contingent here is the third largest contingent after China and Japan (of course, South Korea as hosts have a bigger number, but that is to be expected).

Perhaps, we should be asking how much it costs India and whether it is worth it?

China and Japan, have sent about 750 and 650 athletes and officials respectively. China is expected to pick up about 230 to 250 medals, while Japan should take home about 150 to 170. For China that's a ratio of about one medal for every three athletes or officials.

In Japan's case the ratio is about 1:4. For most of the other top 10 countries (in terms of medals) the ratio is between 1:6 and 1:8 or maybe even 1:9. What about India? About 400 Indian sportspersons and officials have made it to Busan for the 14th Asian Games.

But what is India's medal count likely to be when the last race is run? On Friday evening, with three more days still to go, India has picked up 29 medals. That could climb to about 35, which is roughly the same as India won in Bangkok four years ago. So the medal: athlete ratio is likely to be about 1:12 or maybe even more.

Let's look at the costs and where the money comes from. At all major multi- discipline games, the organising committee pays for a certain number of delegates from each country.

The Busan Asian Games Organising Committee for instance, made allotments to each National Olympic Committee based on its previous performances.

Also considered is the NOC's paying capacity. India's paying capacity is considered high, compared to countries like Nepal, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

The BAGOC allotted India 30 air tickets, of which 24 were meant for athletes and the rest for officials. These 30 were also provided food and accommodation at the official village. All the rest have to be paid for.

That includes airfare, food and accommodation. However, the organising committee usually subsidises the cost for the extra numbers.

For these games, the BAGOC charged $50 per person extra. So, if India has 400 here, the airfare and the $50 per person for the remaining 370 was paid by the NOC.

In India, the government bankrolls all teams for events like the Olympics, Asian Games or the Commonwealth Games.

The procedure is, the national federation sends its lists to the Indian Olympic Association, which passes it on to the sports ministry for final clearance.

The sports ministry makes two kinds of clearances. The first kind is where the government picks up the entire tab.

So, except for about 30 people, almost every athlete or official costs the Indian exchequer in one way or another. Over and above all the costs mentioned above, each athlete cleared by the Indian government is also paid $35 as daily allowance and also given a kit.

So, how much does each athlete coming to an Asian Games cost? About Rs 30,000 for the ticket, plus $50 for accommodation and $35 for daily allowance. Add to that the kit. That's close to Rs 100,000 per person.

So India's jumbo-sized contingent is probably costing the country about Rs 4 crore (Rs 40 million). And, between them, they bring back about 35 medals. So, each medal regardless of its colour, costs nearly Rs 11 lakh to Rs 12 lakh (Rs 1.1 million) to (Rs 1.2 million).

Remember, we have still not inputted the costs of all those training camps and 'exposure' trips.

Sure, this is a crude way to calculate the cost of each medal. A large contingent sometimes shows a tremendous amount of interest in sport, both on part of the government and the sporting federations.

But in India's case, it has a lot to do with our hunger to go on 'trips' at somebody else's cost. In this case it is at our expense - yours and mine or some other taxpayer.

Look deeper and it becomes clear that more than half the medals are won by a single sport, which has a contingent of about 50. Keep that in mind and the ratio and costs per medal rockets unimaginably.

I leave that calculation to the reader and decide whether the country should keep subsidising the wrestlers, boxers, shooters, weightlifters, taekwondo fighters, judokas and other squads, who have given us nothing but heartbreak.

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