The Sports Ministry has started proceedings to bring out amendments in the National Anti Doping Act that would seek jail terms for individuals who are involved in trafficking, sale and supply of prohibited substances in India.The ministry has already published a draft of the amendments related to criminalisation in doping on its website for consultation and feedback. As per ministry all stakeholders have been invited to submit their comments and suggestions by June 18, 2026.The proposed amendments will only target traffickers, illegal suppliers, organised syndicates and support systems involved in doping networks. However, athletes who are not found to be involved in the offences will not stare at jail terms for anti-doping rule violations.“If you remember, I spoke about the same subject in my speech when the WADA chief (Witold Banka) was visiting. We are serious about breaking this syndicate, especially the ones who are supplying it to the minors,” sports minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya told the media on Thursday.Banka, during his visit for the Global Anti-Doping Intelligence and Investigations Network (GAIIN) in Asia and Oceania meet in New Delhi last month, had called India as the biggest producer of illegal performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) and steroids.“Operation Upstream is a global operation. It’s an operation which is not only related to India. It involves many law enforcement agencies. There is no doubt that the biggest production of illegal performance-enhancing drugs and illegal steroids is in India. There is a big problem which we have in India with this. So the main target, the biggest producer of the world, is in India,” Banka had said back in April.The ministry further said that the new measures are well aligned with India’s commitments under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Convention against doping in sport and are consistent with the approach supported by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).Further there are safeguards for athletes with valid Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) and for medical practitioners acting in emergency medical situations requiring legitimate use of prohibited substances/ methods to athletes.