New Delhi, Feb 1 (IANS): Prachi Tehlan, former Indian Netball captain and actress Prachi Tehlan hailed the massive financial jump in the sports sector in the 2023-24 Union Budget and believed that the move will help India to felicitate netball and other sports on the world stage.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the Union Budget for the financial year 2023-24 on Wednesday, in which Rs 3,397.32 crore, an increase of Rs 723.97 crore against last year's revised budget of Rs Rs 2,673.35 crore, was allocated for sports sector which is a huge boost ahead of this year's Asian Games.

"Good news for athletes. The sports sector has received its highest-ever budget allocation in history. With an over 300 Crore jump, the sports sector has received Rs 3397.32 Cr allocation in the new FY 2023-24 Union Budget. As India continues to reach new heights in the sports arena. India's more-than-ever active participation in the Olympics is a big manifestation of this," Prachi said.

"I also feel that this would help to grow other sports that are not as popular Cricket. This will felicitate India to represent sports like Netball and other sports efficiently on world level championships,' she added.

Sports Ministry's flagship scheme 'Khelo India -- National Programme for Development of Sports' has been allocated a whopping Rs 1,045 crore against the revised budget of Rs 606 crore in 2022 while the National Sports Federations (NSFs) have received a budget of Rs Rs 325 crore against the last financial year's Rs 280 crore.