Dilip Tirkey Net Worth

Dilip Tirkey is one of the great defenders in Indian field hockey and one of the most capped players the country has produced, with more than 400 international matches. He grew up in the Sundargarh district of Odisha, a cradle of Indian hockey, and became the first Adivasi player from the state to captain India. He played at three Olympic Games, in 1996, 2000 and 2004, and received the Padma Shri in 2004.

After retiring he moved into politics and sport administration. He served in the Rajya Sabha for the Biju Janata Dal from 2012 to 2018 and was elected president of Hockey India in 2022. In 2024 he stood for the Lok Sabha in his home seat of Sundargarh and lost to the BJP's Jual Oram. His affidavit for that election declared assets of ₹12.27 crore and liabilities of ₹1.58 crore.

What he declared

News18 reported that Tirkey's assets came to about ₹12.3 crore, of which about ₹10.1 crore was immovable property and about ₹2.2 crore movable assets such as bank balances and vehicles. The affidavit lists several plots and houses bought between 1998 and 2013, and liabilities of about ₹1.6 crore.

His own declared income for 2022-23 was ₹15.4 lakh, which he described as coming from his pension, while his wife's income comes from business. In his first Lok Sabha campaign, in 2014, he had declared assets of ₹7.02 crore.

How he made his money

Indian hockey players of his era did not earn the league salaries and endorsement fees of cricketers. Most of them relied on jobs with public sector employers and on the cash awards that state governments give to Olympians, and his affidavit now lists a pension as his own source of income.

Most of his declared wealth is property, built up over two decades in Odisha. The value of that property is the figure he stated in the affidavit, not a market valuation.

About this figure

Every candidate for an Indian election has to file a sworn affidavit (Form 26) listing everything he and his household own and owe. In his 2024 Lok Sabha affidavit, Dilip Tirkey declared total assets of ₹12,26,63,996 and liabilities of ₹1,58,38,815. We subtract one from the other to get the declared net worth of about ₹10.7 crore, about $1.1 million at the October 26, 2026 exchange rate. The affidavit figures are transcribed by the Association for Democratic Reforms on MyNeta and were reported by national media at the time.

Keep in mind what this number is. Assets in an affidavit are listed at the values the candidate states, and property is often entered well below what it would sell for today. It is an official declaration, not a journalist's estimate of his wealth, and it only covers what was owned on the day it was filed.