CHENNAI: The Marina in Chennai will soon have a Sailing Academy and Centre of Excellence for Sailing and Rowing to train potential champions in Olympic sports.
It will cost `7 crore, said the Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in a suo motu statement under Rule 110 in the State Assembly on Wednesday. She said setting up sea water sports facilities was one of her poll promises.
Chennai is home to a few sailors and rowers, but all are driven more by personal enthusiasm than infrastructure and official patronage. There were years when India went unrepresented in the Olympics in sailing.
At the NCC Training Academy being built in Madurai for `12 crore, an artificial rock-climbing facility would be set up for `30 lakh to train cadets in mountaineering, Jaya said, adding that work on the academy is almost over.
Making a suo motu statement under Rule 110 in the State Assembly, Jaya said an e-library would be set up at Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University, providing information on training for sports, techniques and research. It would be set up for `2.51 crore.
She reiterated the steps being taken to promote sports, training sportspersons to take part in competitions, setting up indoor stadia and district-level sports complexes, besides hiking the incentives for winners in national and international events.