New Delhi, Jan 27 (IANS): The union sports ministry has sanctioned a grant of Rs.10,52,000 from the National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) for athletes bound for the Sochi Winter Olympics in Russia.

The funds have been released for ski, ski boots and other essential items needed for alpine skiing and cross-country skiing.

"Although such assistance is not normally given from the NSDF, the executive committee decided to extend the assistance as a special case in view of the importance of the event," said the ministry in a statement.

Shiva Keshavan (Luge), Himanshu Thakur (Alpine Skiing) and Nadeem Iqbal (Alpine Skiing) have qualified for the Games beginning Feb 7.

"The grant from NSDF is in addition to the assistance for sports kit, air fare, accommodation etc. already sanctioned for the participants of the Winter Olympics," the statement said.

"Earlier, the ministry also sanctioned financial assistance of about Rs.34 lakh to Shiva Keshavan for training for Winter Olympics," it added.