Odisha: Naveen Patnaik reviews progress of India's first indoor athletic stadium project in Bhubaneswar
Feb 21, 2022
Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], February 21 : Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik visited and reviewed the project site of India's first indoor athletic stadium in the Kalinga Stadium complex, Bhubaneswar. He expressed satisfaction over the project's progress.
As per the ministry, the indoor athletic stadium is being built in Kalinga Stadium at a cost of Rs 120 crores and will be ready during the year 2022. This is the first indoor athletic in India and will help the athletes practice throughout the year.
Odisha CM said, "This indoor athletic facility will be a major boost for the development of athletics in India and will become the hub to create champions in coming years". He further added that the facility has the capacity to host both national and international indoor athletic events and a residential facility for over 100 athletes for full-time coaching.
Later, a former Lok Sabha member visited the tennis centre project. The Centre Court of the Tennis Centre is being constructed for hosting national and international events.
As per the ministry, the Indoor athletic stadium and the tennis centre are both parts of the State Sports Infrastructure development Project which aims at transformative changes in the sports sector in Odisha, under the 5T (Teamwork, Technology, Transparency, Transformation and Time limit) initiative of the State Government.
The ministry also informed that over Rs 300 crores worth of projects are under execution in the Kalinga Stadium including the indoor athletics stadium, indoor aquatics stadium, tennis centre, staff accommodation and hockey High-Performance Center (HPC) building.
Thereafter, Chief Minister watched the football match of the ongoing Odisha Women's Football League at the main football pitch of Kalinga Stadium. He also interacted with the women footballers and assured them all support for their football careers.
Chief Minister met the Indian Hockey teams (Men and Women) at the Hockey Stadium and enquired about their stay and practice facilities. The players expressed their gratitude for the support Chief Minister has extended for hockey development.
The Odisha CM wished them good luck for the upcoming Pro League matches and assured them all support and hoped that they will aim to get the medals for the country in the Asian and Commonwealth Games this year.
