CM felicitates Asian Games winners; Karnataka raises gold medal prize to Rs 1 crore

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, Oct 6, 2026: Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Tuesday felicitated Karnataka athletes who represented the country at the Asian Games 2026 and announced enhanced cash incentives for medal winners and other participating athletes.

At a function held at Vidhana Soudha, the Chief Minister announced cash prizes totalling Rs 8 crore for eight medal-winning athletes from Karnataka.

Gold medal prize increased to Rs 1 crore

The state government has substantially increased the cash incentives for Asian Games medal winners. The prize for a gold medal has been raised from Rs 35 lakh to Rs 1 crore, while silver medal winners will receive Rs 75 lakh, up from Rs 25 lakh. The prize for bronze medal winners has been increased from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 50 lakh.

Rs 5 lakh for every participating athlete

For the first time, the government has sanctioned an incentive of Rs 5 lakh each for 20 athletes from Karnataka who qualified for and competed in the Asian Games 2026.

The athletes represent disciplines including athletics, badminton, cricket, cycling, equestrian, golf, hockey, shooting, swimming, table tennis and sports climbing.

Direct recruitment for medal winners

The government has also made provisions for direct recruitment to Group-B posts for medal winners at the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. The recruitment will be conducted through a selection committee headed by the Chief Secretary.

Rs 10 lakh assistance for Olympic preparation

Four athletes have been included in the state’s Target Olympics scheme for 2026-27 and will receive Rs 10 lakh each towards Olympic preparation. They are Asian Games medalists M.R. Poovamma, Sneha S.S. and Shreyanka Patil, along with Commonwealth Games medalist Shilpa K.S.

2% reservation for sportspersons

The state has also implemented 2% reservation for accomplished sportspersons in direct recruitment to government posts across Group-A, Group-B, Group-C and Group-D categories. A notification regarding the reservation was issued on October 3.

Karnataka’s eight Asian Games medal winners

The eight medal-winning athletes and their events are:

Shreyank R. Patil – Women’s cricket team, Gold
M.R. Poovamma – 4x400m mixed relay, Silver; 4x400m women’s relay, Gold
Tilottama Sen – Women’s 50m rifle, Silver
Ayush R. Shetty – Men’s team badminton, Silver
Sneha S.S. – 4x100m mixed relay, Bronze
Aditi Ashok – Women’s golf team, Silver
Pranavi S. Aras – Women’s golf team, Silver; individual, Gold
Mohith H.S. – Men’s hockey team, Gold

20 athletes to receive Rs 5 lakh incentive

The 20 Karnataka athletes who participated in the Asian Games and will receive the Rs 5 lakh incentive are Yashas Palaksha, Supriya Cingere Basavaraju, Unnathi Aiyappa, M.R. Poovamma, Sneha S.S., Ayush Shetty, Shreyank R. Patil, Keerthi Rangaswamy, Fouaad Mirza, Aditi Ashok, Pranavi S. Aras, Mohith H.S., Tilottama Sen, Aakash Mani, Srihari Nataraj, Dakshans S., Aneesh Gowda, Yashaswini Ghorpade, Sindushree and Deepu Mallesh.

They represented Karnataka in athletics, badminton, T20 cricket, track cycling, equestrian, golf, hockey, shooting, swimming, table tennis and sports climbing.