Dalmia Cements commits Rs 30 crore for Gopichand academy
A comprehensive presentation on the vision, design and road map for setting up a world class badminton academy with a high-performance centre was made before Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik
Published: 28th September 2019 09:36 AM | Last Updated: 28th September 2019 09:36 AM | A+A A-
BHUBANESWAR: Dalmia Cements Bharat Limited has come out in support of Pullela Gopichand Badminton Foundation (PGBF) to set up a high-performance centre for badminton in the Capital City by committing Rs 30 crore for the Foundation through CSR initiative. The state government has roped in PGBF to set up a high-performance centre for promoting badminton in Odisha.
A comprehensive presentation on the vision, design and road map for setting up a world class badminton academy with a high-performance centre was made before Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the Lok Seva Bhavan here on Friday.
Official sources said construction of the centre will be started by December, 2019 and completed by December, 2020.
The academy will start functioning at the high-performance centre from December, 2020. It will offer world-class training and coaching facility under the direct supervision and guidance of legendary badminton player and coach Gopichand.
Appreciating the efforts for promotion of badminton in Odisha, the Chief Minister said with the vision of Gopichand and support of Dalmia Cements, the high-performance centre will be one of the international standard training centre of the country.
He said the state government has provided three-acre land for the centre and is also constructing a multi-purpose indoor hall in Kalinga Stadium campus which will be ready by February 2020. The high-performance badminton centre can start functioning immediately from there, he said.
Stating that promotion of sports by industrial houses is a winning combination, the Chief Minister said the state government will always encourage such initiatives for the cause of sports in Odisha. The government in recent years is focusing on setting up high-performance centres in different disciplines of sports.
PGBF founder Pullela Gopichand, Chief Secretary Asit Kumar Tripathy, Principal Secretary in the sports department Vishal Deb, Managing Director of Dalmia Cements Puneet Dalmia and senior officials were present.
