The Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, addressed a Rajya Sabha Session of 3rd February where he was asked about India’s participation plans for the esports division in the upcoming Asian Games. As there will be 24 medal-related events in the esports category, he was asked if the government has set up an organization that can look after the development and training of esports in the country.

Responding to this, Shri Anurag Singh Thakur stated that the promotion and development of any specific sports discipline in India is the responsibility of its respective National Federation. At present, no such esports federation or association has been recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. This statement can be interpreted as India is not yet prepared to participate in the esports division of Asian Games 2022.
  
The lack of an official esports body recognized by the government can dent India’s chances of sending esports players to the 2022 Asian Games, especially for the 5v5 team games like League of Legends, DOTA 2, Arena of Valor, and Dream Three Kingdoms 2. It looks like India will have a chance at sending an esports team for PUBG Mobile as its Indian version (Battlegrounds Mobile India) is widely popular and has already set up its esports scene here. For HearthStone, Tirth Mehta may again help India have a chance of obtaining a medal if he performs as good as his run in the  2018 Asian Games where he bagged a bronze. 

In the 2022 Asian Games, there will be eight major gaming titles in the esports division which are: 
Arena of Valor (Asian Games Version)
DOTA2
Dream Three Kingdoms 2
EA SPORTS FIFA branded soccer games
HearthStone
League of Legends
PUBG Mobile (Asian Games Version)
Street Fighter V 

All the participating esports teams for the Asian Games 2022 will be selected during the “Road to Asian Games” Esports Program. It will be jointly organized by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and the Asian Electronic Sports Federation (AESF). There will also be two Esports Presentation Event Titles featured in the 2022 Asian Games. These will be:
AESF Robot Masters
AESF Virtual Reality Sports

We hope that the Indian government helps talented esports players who wish to represent the country at such a prestigious international event. Such a step will bolster the development of esports in India in the future.