BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday visited the Kalinga Stadium complex here and reviewed the progress of the indoor athletic stadium and other projects.
Projects worth over `300 crore are being executed in Kalinga Stadium including an indoor athletic stadium, indoor aquatics stadium, tennis centre, staff accommodation and hockey high-performance centre building.
Sporting a trendy look, the Chief Minister expressed satisfaction over the progress of the projects. He said the indoor athletic facility will be a major boost for the development of athletics in India and become a hub to create champions in the coming years. This is the first indoor athletic stadium in India and will help athletes practice throughout the year.
The indoor athletic stadium is being built at a cost of `120 crore and will be ready by the end of 2022. The facility can host national and international indoor athletic events. It will also have a residential facility for full-time coaching of more than 100 athletes.
The Chief Minister also visited the tennis centre project and reviewed its progress. The court of the tennis centre is being constructed for hosting national and international events like international tennis federation tournaments and Davis Cup.
The indoor athletic stadium and the tennis centre are part of the State Sports Infrastructure Development Project which aims at transformative changes in the sports sector in Odisha under the 5T initiative of the State government.
Later, Naveen watched a match of the ongoing Odisha Women’s Football League at the main football ground of Kalinga Stadium. He interacted with the women footballers and assured them all support. He also spoke to the rising football player 18-year-old Manisha Nayak of the Sports Odisha team who was to play against the Rising Students team on the day.
However, Manisha could not play the match as she sustained an injury on her knee at the last moment. But she had not thought that the injury will give her a chance to interact with the Chief Minister. He consoled Manisha and advised her to keep up her preparations to play the next match.
Naveen also met the Indian hockey teams (men and women) at the hockey stadium and inquired about their stay and practice facilities. The players expressed their gratitude to the Chief Minister for extending assistance for the development of hockey.
He wished them luck for the upcoming Pro League matches and assured them all support. He hoped the players will aim to get medals for the country in the Asian and Commonwealth Games this year.