New Delhi, February 7: Khelo India, an initiative to foster sports development in India, received a boost as Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar supported the initiative. Akshay Kumar, while commenting on his association with the initiative, said, "I am delighted to see that for the first time ever, through the Khelo India School Games and the broadcast of it on the Star Sports network, young sporting talent is being recognised and rewarded instantly."

"But this is only the beginning and I hope that the Khelo India movement gets the right momentum through your support. So, come forward and support the Khelo India movement. Saath mein hai Hum, Khelo India!" he added.

Akshay was present at the Indira Gandhi Indoor (IGI) Stadium in New Delhi to support the young talent thronging the capital from across the country to be a part of the inaugural Khelo India School Games.

The actor also emphasised on the need of quality broadcast to reverberate the unifying message of Khelo India across the country. The Khelo India programme has been introduced by the Sports Ministry of India to revive the sports culture in the country at the grassroots level and make India a sporting nation.

With over 3500 athletes, 1250 officials and over 800 volunteers have come together over the course of nine days to be part of the Khelo India School Games. There are 199 gold medals, 199 silver medals, 275 bronze medals up for grabs across 16 disciplines in the games.

The opening ceremony of the programme was held in New Delhi on January 31 in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The program is slated to conclude on February 8.