New Delhi, Jun 9 (IANS): The sports ministry Thursday earmarked Rs.258.39 crore to prepare athletes for the 2012 London Olympics. The lion's share, Rs.43 crore, was allocated for shooters.

Union Sports Minister Ajay Maken said the fund allocations for "Project Opex 2012" were at par with the Rs.678 crore earmarked for the Commonwealth Games over a period of three years. The budget for the mega event is for the period of April 2011 to August 2012 and will cover the athletes in 16 Olympic disciplines.

"Maken stated that based on the approved funding norms, which are at par with Commonwealth Games, with further upscaling in certain areas such as lodging, nutrition and scientific support, daily allowance etc., the budget has been estimated for about Rs.258.39 crore for the period April 2011 to August 2012," the sports ministry said in a release.

Twenty-eight foreign coaches will oversee the training with their national counterparts. Seventeen foreign coaches have already joined in the various selected disciplines and the rest will be joining at the earliest.

"Elaborating on the coaching of athletes, Maken informed that a total of 28 foreign coaches have been selected for engagement. Seventeen coaches have joined and 11 are in the process of joining. 29 foreign exposures have been completed till date," said the statement.

The minister also disclosed that 32 government observers in the identified disciplines have been appointed to ensure the effective conduct of the national coaching camps and for fair selection of players for international exposures and qualifying competitions.

Maken said that he will appoint a three-member committee of experts. A three-member oversight committee consisting of one member each from Indian Olympic Association (IOA), Sports Authority of India (SAI) and sport discipline will also be constituted and the officials will visit the national camps periodically to check the standards of food and other infrastructure.

The amount allocated to 16 disciplines: Archery Rs.9.2 crore; athletics Rs.15.9 crore; badminton Rs.13 crore; boxing Rs.27.1 crore; gymnastics Rs.13.5 crore; hockey Rs.20.5 crore; judo Rs.12 crore; rowing Rs.8.7 crore; shooting Rs.43.7 crore; swimming Rs.12.7 crore; table tennis Rs.14.6 crore; taekwondo Rs.9.4 crore; tennis Rs.2.1 crore; weightlifting Rs.11.1 crore; wrestling Rs.15.7 crore; and yachting Rs.8.3 crore.