Star India is gearing up for the first edition of Khelo India School Games, an initiative of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, which is set to begin on January 31. The company plans to telecast the games on three of its channels — Star Sports 1, Star Sports-HD and its free-to-air sports channel, Star Sports First. In addition, the games will be available on its digital platform, Hotstar.

Earlier this month, the Ministry had announced its choice of Star Sports as the broadcast and production partner for Khelo India School Games for 2018-2022.

Speaking at the anthem launch event, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore said: “Khelo India is a unique programme which is focused on building a strong sport ecosystem and is committed to the long-term professional development of athletes. This will help the nation bridge the gap between ‘potential and podium’.”

Khelo India School Games are being organised for the under-17 group, and will be held at multiple venues across Delhi in 16 different disciplines from January 31 to February 8.

Sanjay Gupta, MD, Star India, said: “This government initiative aims to make school sports aspirational and enable the development of sporting culture among the youth. This has also been Star Sports’ belief and therefore we thought this is a great opportunity for us to partner with the government. We are putting in significant investments behind Khelo India School Games”.

He said that the company is focusing on making these games bigger in terms of quality of production and reach, and is also aggressively marketing them.

Replying to a query on sponsorships, Gupta said: “We believe the first year will be an investment year for us and we expect from the next year onwards we will get a lot more sponsorship demand for Khelo India.”

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