Odisha is investing more than Rs 2,500 crore in sports infrastructure, including 90 indoor stadiums in urban local bodies (ULBs), according to Sports Secretary R. Vineel Krishna on Wednesday.
Krishna stated at the senior officers’ conference in Konark that the state government is constructing India’s first indoor athletic stadium, indoor aquatic centre, high performance centres for hockey, badminton, weightlifting, gymnastics, athletics, and training centres for hockey, football, swimming, gymnastics, and other sports.
He elaborated on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s vision of using sports to create a new identity for Odisha and to productively engage the youth.
Odisha, according to the Chief Minister, should become a health, fitness, and sports-oriented society. As a result, in recent years, the state government has been investing in massive infrastructure, organising national and international championships, developing unique coaching models in collaboration with corporations and elite athletes, and so on, according to Krishna.
The recent successful organisation of the Hockey World Cup was a prime example of the state government’s teamwork, he said, in which all departments and districts put on a grand show that brought laurels to the state and the country.
Bhupendra Poonia, Managing Director of Odisha Industrial Development Corporation (Idco), explained how the world’s largest all-seated hockey stadium, the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela, was built in 15 months despite numerous challenges.
The senior officers’ conference, which the Chief Minister inaugurated on Tuesday, concluded on Wednesday.
Prasanta Patnaik