KOCHI: Nearly two years after the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) announced an ambitious Rs 450-crore plan to build a 40,000-seater international cricket stadium near Nedumbassery, the project remains stalled, caught in government paperwork.
Touted as a futuristic sports city — including what was envisioned as India’s first carbon-neutral sports facility — the project is yet to move beyond the approval stage.
According to KCA officials, the proposal has been stuck for over a year due to pending government clearances related to land conversion.
“The land has been identified and we have received the required approvals. Now there is some paperwork related to land conversion awaiting government approval, which is in the final stage,” KCA secretary Vinod Kumar said.
Around 40 acres have been identified in Chengamanad village near the Kochi airport along National Highway 544. The land, which once comprised paddy fields, is now largely abandoned and used as brick fields. KCA has acquired the land and secured approval from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for the project.
According to the proposal submitted by KCA to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan during the International Sports Summit Kerala held at Thiruvananthapuram in January 2024, the planned sports city will include indoor and outdoor practice facilities, training grounds, a sports academy and research centre, an eco park, water sports park, sports medicine and fitness centre, an e-sports arena, entertainment zones, and a clubhouse.
The project was estimated to be completed within three years with funding support from BCCI. However, despite the ambitious blueprint, construction is yet to begin.
KCA’s earlier attempt to build a major cricket stadium in Edakochi had run into strong opposition from environmentalists who argued that the project would damage mangroves and fragile wetland ecosystems in the region. The association later shifted the plan to the Nedumbassery area. At present, most major cricket matches in Kerala are hosted at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram.
Meanwhile, KCA has moved ahead with other infrastructure projects. Work on its “innovative sports hub” in Palakkad was inaugurated last week. The Rs 20-crore facility is coming up on 21 acres owned by the Chathankulangara Bhagavathi Temple and is expected to be completed by April 2027.
Interestingly, the Palakkad project, first proposed in 2018, took nearly eight years to take off due to the Covid-19 pandemic and legal hurdles.
IN LIMBO
Another KCA proposal, to develop a cricket ground on the main campus of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady, announced in August 2025, is also awaiting final approval